Benefits of Addiction Recovery in Tennessee

Written by Journey Pure Staff

When you’re choosing an addiction recovery center, there are a number of factors to consider. One that’s often overlooked is the location of the facility.

You might think that attending rehab close to home is the best option, but that’s not always the case. Attending an out-of-state rehab offers a number of benefits:

  • Increased privacy: Substance abuse disorders are nothing to be ashamed of, but many people prefer to keep their recovery as private as possible. When you’re attending rehab out of the state, the added distance makes it easier to focus on your recovery instead of worrying about whether your neighbors will find out about your struggles.
  • Fewer distractions: When you’re making a major life change, you want an environment with as few distractions as possible. Being further away from home can sometimes be beneficial because you’ll be able to focus on your own healing journey instead of constantly tending to the needs of your friends and family.
  • Higher quality: Depending on where you live, the closest rehab facility may not be the one that’s best equipped to deal with your unique needs. When it comes to your recovery, you want to enlist the support of a team of skilled professionals with the experience needed to help you maintain your sobriety. To get this high-quality experience, traveling out of state may be necessary.

Private Recovery in Tennessee: An Atmosphere Supportive of Sobriety

When seeking treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, it’s important to avoid exposing yourself to unnecessary temptations. If you’re surrounded by images of people drinking and using drugs to relax and have fun, it’s going to be hard to resist the urge to lapse back into your past destructive habits.

Tennessee’s natural beauty encourages outdoor recreation and a clean, healthy lifestyle. In fact, data compiled by The Daily Beast lists Nashville as the “soberest city” in the United States, with 8.92 drinks consumed per citizen per week and 280 AA meetings per week for those who need to abstain from alcohol entirely. The AA community is quite active throughout the city, regularly hosting events such as campouts, cookouts, and ice cream socials to encourage members to develop a strong social support system. You couldn’t ask for a better environment to support making a meaningful change in your life!

Nashville is roughly a 40-minute drive from JourneyPure At The River in Murfreesboro, TN. When you choose JourneyPure At The River to begin your path to sobriety, you’re gaining access to a peaceful and supportive atmosphere that will put you on the path to a brighter future.

Using Music and Songwriting Therapy to Support Your Recovery in Tennessee

Tennessee has a special place in the history of American music. Most people realize that Nashville is widely recognized as the capital of country music, but that’s only part of the state’s story. Bristol is often referred to as the birthplace of country music, while Memphis played a key role in blues, soul and early rock and roll.

Murfreesboro, TN hosts a number of music festivals throughout the year, including Main Street Jazzfest in May and Uncle Dave Macon Days in July. The city is also home to Middle Tennessee State University, which has a large recording industry program. Some of the bands and songwriters who got their start in Murfreesboro, TN include De Novo Dahl, The Protomen, A Plea for Purging, Self, Fluid Ounces, Count Bass D, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Destroy Destroy Destroy, The Katies, The Features and Those Darlins.

Music therapy has been used in the treatment of substance abuse disorders since the 1970s. If you’ve ever discovered a certain song that you can’t listen to without smiling or one that reminds you of a particular time in your life, you know that music is capable of evoking strong emotions. Music therapy sessions help patients uncover the emotional roots of their addiction by listening to songs that help them express feelings such as anger, sadness, depression, and anxiety.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, music therapy is associated with a willingness to undergo extended substance abuse treatment. Women and teens experience the biggest benefits of music therapy, although men may also find it helpful in some circumstances.  Drumming therapies are linked to relaxation and are particularly useful for people who’ve experienced relapses. Lyric analysis is related to positive emotional change in patients at all stages of the recovery process.

You don’t need to be able to play a musical instrument to benefit from music therapy, as many sessions focus simply on listening to music and discussing how certain songs make you feel. However, if you do have a musical background, you might be interested in songwriting therapy for addiction recovery. JourneyPure At The River offers both forms of treatment for people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

Writing an original song can serve as a tangible reminder of your healing journey while reinforcing your commitment to recovery. You may also find that sharing your song gives you the satisfaction of knowing your personal story has helped others on their path to sobriety.

Finding a Peaceful Recovery in Tennessee Through Art Therapy

The American Art Therapy Association reports that art therapy has been shown to boost self-esteem and self-confidence, enhance emotional well-being, help people heal from past emotional traumas, reduce negative stress, improve interpersonal skills and achieve deeper personal insight. In addition to being popular as a way to support addiction recovery, art therapy has also been proven beneficial in treating mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Art therapy focuses on creating art to benefit from the process. Think back to how happy you were to color a picture or make a model out of clay in elementary school. The goal of art therapy is to help you recapture that joyful feeling while expressing your emotions surrounding the recovery process. The technical merits of the art you produce are irrelevant.

Popular types of art therapy include:

  • Drawing/painting abstract representations of emotions such as anger, fear or shame
  • Painting or sculpting as a form of stress relief
  • Making art that depicts specific traumatic incidents as part of a healing process
  • Creating an art journal that combines journaling and creative techniques to explore feelings

Although art therapy focuses on the joy of creating art, those in recovery often find that looking at works of art by others provides inspiration as well as a starting point for discussing specific issues surrounding their addiction. Tennessee is a great place to do this, as it is home to a number of noteworthy art museums. For example:

  • Art Museum of the University of Memphis: Located in Memphis, this facility displays contemporary art as well as Egyptian antiquities and West African artifacts.
  • Scarritt-Bennett Center Laskey Gallery: This Nashville gallery highlights art relating to themes of women’s empowerment, intercultural understanding, and racial equality.
  • Parthenon: Located in Nashville, this full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens is a museum with regularly changing exhibits of American art.
  • Memphis Brooks Museum of Art: This Memphis museum has an impressive collection of works by Italian Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionist, and 20th-century artists. Contemporary painting, English portraiture and a wide range of sculpture and decorative arts are also showcased.
  • West Tennessee Regional Art Center: Located in Humboldt, this art museum focuses on honoring the works of regional artists. Exhibits often highlight the work of local high school and university students.
  • Todd Gallery: Located in Murfreesboro, TN this gallery is part of Middle Tennessee State University. It often highlights the work of students, alumni, and faculty.

Adventure Therapy to Assist in Addiction Recovery

The term adventure therapy refers to using various outdoor physical challenges to support traditional therapeutic goals. Trust activities, problem-solving exercises, cooperative games, and wilderness expeditions encourage participants to develop positive behavioral changes as they internalize the experience and relate it to their stated therapeutic goals. Adventure therapy is sometimes referred to as wilderness therapy or Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH).

Adventure therapy uses a cognitive behavioral affective approach to addiction treatment. Studies have shown adventure therapy to be useful for people of all ages, but the approach is particularly beneficial for teens and young adults. Getting away from the temptations of modern technology and tackling challenges in the wilderness helps members of this group develop confidence in their problem-solving skills while showing them it’s possible to have fun without turning to drugs and alcohol.

According to the Center for Research, Assessment, and Treatment Efficacy (CReATE) and the Arkansas Interdisciplinary Sciences Laboratory, young people participating in adventure therapy experienced significant reductions in psychopathy during treatment and were able to maintain these gains for one full year. Treatment reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, and aggression, improved school performance, lowered the risk of substance abuse relapse and enhanced sleep quality.

Backpacking, rock climbing, camping, canoeing, kayaking and rafting opportunities abound throughout Tennessee. The state has 56 unique state parks with over 1,100 miles of trails to explore. If you find you enjoy spending time outdoors as part of an adventure therapy experience, you might choose to become a volunteer for the state’s park system. Volunteers help with grounds keeping, trail maintenance, and trail improvement projects.

Equine Therapy for Addiction Recovery in Tennessee

Equine therapy is well-recognized as a beneficial model for addiction treatment. Learning to care for a horse lowers stress, raises feelings of self-worth and encourages physical activity while spending time in nature. Riding in a group also helps foster communication and teamwork skills, both of which make it easier to stay sober after you’ve left rehab.

One of the benefits of recovery in Tennessee is gaining access to a wide range of equestrian opportunities. For example, Tennessee’s state parks have some of the best horseback riding trails in the Southeast United States. Horseback riding is very popular in the following parks:

  • Big Hill Pond: Taking its name from the 35-acre Big Hill Pond created in 1853, this park has 14 miles of horse trails that are shared with mountain bikers.
  • Cedars of Lebanon: Named for the Eastern Red Cedar trees found throughout the area, this park is well-known for its equestrian access and offers rental horses for people who don’t have their own horse. A 2.5-mile guided trail ride through the park should take about 40 minutes to complete.
  • Chickasaw: Named in honor of the Chickasaw Indians who once inhabited West Tennessee and North Mississippi, this facility is one of Tennessee’s 20 New Deal-era parks. It features a wrangler campground designed especially for people who are traveling with their horses, as well as a guided trail that takes about one hour to complete.
  • Fall Creek Falls: Tennessee’s largest and most popular state park, this facility encompasses over 26,000 acres. It features horse stables with guided trail rides, as well as various educational programs led by the park’s naturalists.
  • Frozen Head: Taking its name from a 3,324-foot peak in the Cumberland Mountains, Frozen Head has 24,000 acres of wilderness to explore.
  • Meeman-Shelby Forest: Bordering the Mississippi River 13 miles north of Memphis, Meeman-Shelby Forest has over 20 miles of trails open for horses and hikers to explore.
  • Natchez Trace: Featuring an on-site wrangler camp and 250 miles of riding trails operated by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, this beautiful park is also one of the state’s top fishing spots.
  • Norris Dam: Norris Dam was constructed in 1933 during the Great Depression by the Tennessee Valley Authority. If you enjoy camping as well as horseback riding, this park has 10 deluxe cabins and 19 historic cabins for you to enjoy.
  • Panther Creek: This facility is a 1,435-acre park on the Cherokee Reservoir in the historic Holston River Valley. Located six miles west of Morristown, it has seven miles of horseback riding trails with several additional trials currently under construction.
  • Warrior’s Path: Named for the Great Indian War and Trading Path, this park encompasses 950 acres on the shores of the Patrick Henry Reservoir on the Holston River.

Taking the First Step Toward a Brighter Future

JourneyPure At The River specializes in providing an enhanced medical model of addiction treatment. If you’re struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, we can help you get the treatment you need to begin living your life to the fullest.

Our program includes inpatient and outpatient rehabs, with special treatment options for patients suffering from a dual diagnosis of substance abuse and a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety. Music therapy, songwriting therapy, art therapy, adventure therapy, and equine therapy are offered as part of our commitment to using experiential therapy to promote lifelong recovery.

Seeking help for substance abuse disorders can be scary, especially if you’re worried about the financial implications. However, JourneyPure At The River accepts most insurance policies and will work with you to verify your benefits before treatment begins. Please call us at (615) 900-2444 to learn more about our options for recovery support in Tennessee.

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