Hope for Professionals and Executives Suffering with Addiction

Know your rights as an employee in need of help with substance abuse

If you’re a working professional suffering from addiction, you’re not alone. Addiction is a disease that knows no boundaries and can affect anyone at any time. If you’re a professional who’s struggling with alcoholism or substance abuse, you can recover and protect your career. 

Professionals and executives battling addiction are often afraid to seek help for fear of losing their job. Working professionals must know their rights. If you’re an employee, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protects you from job loss. It offers up to three months of unpaid leave time for the treatment of serious illness. Professionals in need of rehab need to know that addiction is a serious qualifying illness that qualifies them to take advantage of FMLA benefits. 

If you’re a professional in need of help, there is hope for you and your career. You can get clean and sober discreetly, save your job, or have your license reinstated if need be. You deserve freedom from addiction and the ability to continue creating the career of your dreams. 

 

Substance Abuse Treatment Options for Professionals

Whether you need help withdrawing from alcohol or a drug or not, there are many treatment options for professionals battling substance abuse. Getting clean and sober is the healthiest thing you can do for yourself and your career. Still, everyone feels a little fear when entering recovery. Often, we just can’t remember who we were before our addiction took hold. The one thing we should not fear is retribution for needing help for our addiction. So, be kind to yourself and understand that the disease of addiction is as serious as a cancer diagnosis. You deserve wellness. 

If you’re a professional who needs help with addiction, you have options

If you are a professional that is addicted to a substance that you need to safely detox from, use that health insurance you work so hard for to find an addiction facility that can help you through withdrawal. Some drugs cause life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. Don’t try an alcohol or benzodiazepine detox without medical assistance. There are even medications that can help you safely detox at home if need be. We recommend you go to a rehabilitation facility in the beginning, especially if you have health insurance. It’s the best way to learn about your addiction, find friends who are just like you, and begin your new journey into sobriety. 

Once the withdrawal is behind you, you can continue treatment in an Adult Residential Therapeutic Community. While in a sober living environment, you can continue to work as you attend Twelve Step Meetings and surround yourself with others that understand addiction and recovery. 

As you move through your treatment plan, take advantage of After Care Programs. Tiered recovery for addiction can improve patient outcomes. While there is no guarantee that we won’t relapse, engaging in active treatment for substance abuse is beneficial. In fact, according to a recent study published on PubMed, “…results suggest that best practice rehabilitation treatment integrates mental health treatment and provides continuity of care post-discharge.”

As you move through your treatment plan, take advantage of After Care Programs. Tiered recovery for addiction has the capacity to improve patient outcomes. While there is no guarantee that we won’t relapse, engaging in active treatment for substance abuse is beneficial. In fact, according to a recent study published on PubMed, “…results suggest that best practice rehabilitation treatment integrates mental health treatment and provides continuity of care post-discharge.”

 

What Does Long-Term Recovery for Addiction Offer Professionals?

Professionals and executives tend to be perfectionists and high-functioning addicts and alcoholics. Professionals and executives in leadership positions have the same sense of shame related to their addiction as a low-bottom addict who has lost their job and home. The difference for professions struggling with addiction is that they fear appearing imperfect to their families and colleagues. This fear of being found out must be smashed. 

Coming to terms with the reality that you are a high-functioning substance abuser may seem daunting but letting go of shame is a gift. Seeking addiction treatment opens the door to freedom from addiction, self-acceptance, joy, community, and healing. Give yourself the gift of recovery, and you and your career will have more room than ever to flourish. 

Professionals struggling with addiction often have high-stress jobs. From lawyers to doctors to construction workers, deadlines and pressure are a challenge. Recovery offers coping skills so you can re-enter the workforce with the tools you need to take care of yourself and succeed.

Long-term treatment allows you the freedom to build a better future

Are You an Addicted Professional Who Needs Career Help?
We’re here for you

Addiction comes with consequences. Suppose you’re a professional struggling with substance abuse and has lost your license or your job: Breakthrough Recovery Outreach has resources to help you. 

It’s commonly said in recovery that “if someone told me what my life would be like today when I first got sober, I’d never have believed them.”

That is true of millions of us. I was unemployable when I met Chris Jacobs from Breakthrough. I got a job while living in the adult sober living community and fifteen years later, I have the career of my dreams. 

 

Are you ready to break the chains of addiction?

Contact us. Our team is here to help you start your recovery journey and watch you grow.