100% starting back to work on Monday after a 5 month medical leave for severe burnout. It was the darkest time of my life. The worst part was not believing it could happen to me and ignoring all the signs.

As a Registered Social Worker working with chronically unhoused individuals, one aspect of recovery that I often feel is missing from the discussion and training is grief. Recovery is frequently framed around stabilization, sobriety, and rebuilding, but less attention is given to the grief that accompanies those processes. Many of the individuals I work with experience deep and complex grief when beginning their recovery journey. This includes disenfranchised grief, as well as the very real grief associated with the loss of friends, family relationships, employment, housing, and years of life that may have been impacted during active addiction. Part of recovery often involves reconciling these losses, which can be emotionally overwhelming. I recall one client sharing something that has stayed with me. He described his drug of choice as the “friend that was always there.” He explained that he always knew it would be available when he needed it, and that it never judged him. That statement struck me deeply. For many individuals, especially those who have experienced trauma, abandonment, or unstable relationships, substances can become one of the only things in their lives that feels predictable and reliable. When people have not had consistent, trustworthy relationships, the certainty of knowing something will be there—without judgment—can become incredibly powerful. This perspective helped me better understand the complexity of recovery. When individuals begin the process of reducing or stopping substance use, they are not only changing behaviours; they may also be grieving the loss of something that has functioned as a coping strategy, a sense of stability, and in some ways even a companion. Supporting clients through this process requires acknowledging that letting go of substance use can involve a very real experience of grief. As professionals working in addiction and recovery, I believe it is important that we recognize and create space for this aspect of the recovery journey. By acknowledging the grief associated with letting go of substances—and the roles those substances once played in a person’s life—we can better support individuals in developing new sources of connection, safety, and reliability.

@Crystal Smalldon yay! I am so very thrilled to hear this! Thank you Crystal!