What Is Fellowship?
Fellowship is friendship, support, and guidance from your peers as you all walk together on your journeys to recovery. A sense of fellowship goes far beyond gathering a group of people with substance use disorder (SUD) to attend support group meetings. Developing a fellowship with others means you find people who genuinely care for you and want to see you be successful in your life as you help support each other through the recovery process.
How Can Fellowship Help in Recovery?
Recovery does not happen overnight; it can be a long bumpy path that shifts and changes along the way. There are stumbles and leaps of success along the way, but a mainstay of support on that journey can be found in fellowship with other individuals in recovery. Research shows that social support plays an important role in influencing behavior. Moreover, researchers suggest that social support can be beneficial in two major ways:
- Indirectly as a stress buffer when life feels difficult
- Directly through emotional support and a sense of belonging that helps with stress and overall happiness
Healthier Outcomes
Research has found that having strong, healthy social support can lead to better health outcomes, more happiness, and longevity. However, individuals with SUD lacking a healthy support network have a higher chance of relapse. Although people can find social support and its benefits in healthy relationships like friendship, building support in specific categories is particularly beneficial.
Therefore, when you can find fellowship with people going through similar experiences like SUD recovery, you are more likely to be self-efficient in your abstinence as you develop effective coping skills from your peers. This fellowship can offer you insight, guidance, accountability, and support on your recovery journey.
Sober Fellowship Activities
As you enter recovery, finding a way to connect with others and find joy in your life while sober can feel daunting. However, participating in community activities and building hobbies can support you in forming close bonds with your fellow members as you get to know each other. Through activities and fellowship, you and your fellow members can discover that more happiness and fulfillment can come from connecting with others in healthier ways than SUD.
Self-Care/Physical Wellbeing
- Yoga classes
- Participating in sports
- Going to the gym
- Connecting with nature
- Walking and hiking
- Going to a park
- Camping
- Self-care days
- Getting a manicure and pedicure
- Going to a spa
- Visiting a flower shop
- Shopping for candles
Art/Culture/Leisure
- Arts and crafts
- Book clubs
- Movie nights
- Attending a play or musical
- Visiting a zoo, aquarium, planetarium, or museum
- Cooking classes
- Healthy social opportunities
- Group dinners
- Volunteering
To learn more about sober activities in Austin, Texas, visit our Home page.
The Importance of Fellowship Between Women
Finding fellowship is important for anyone in recovery, but fellowship is especially valuable for the women in women-only recovery programs. Women with SUD face a unique set of barriers and issues in recovery compared to men due to biological, social, and cultural factors. From a cultural perspective, women with SUD experience higher levels of stigmatization, stemming from the belief systems that place women in certain roles based on ideals of care, comfort, and support. These limiting beliefs about women’s role in society make it difficult for women to feel seen and heard in mix-gender recovery settings. Therefore, as noted in an article from The American Journal on Addiction, women are more comfortable interacting and sharing with other women.
In our women-only transitional living houses at Grace Recovery TX, you can find fellowship in your fellow members as you build deeper connections with women who share similar experiences with you. Forming bonds through common experiences as women with SUD and co-occurring mental health disorders makes it easier to share and grow together in ways that would have once seemed impossible. Together you become invested not only in your own recovery but in the recovery and successes of each other. In addition, the fellowship born out of women-only settings supports the development of a social network of women that you can carry with you well beyond your time at Grace Recovery TX.
Fellowship at Grace Recovery TX
At Grace Recovery TX, we view fellowship as a vital part of the recovery process. We saw a gap in the recovery community that was not serving the needs of women here in Austin. There was no fellowship for young women to connect with each other, learn from each other, and find purpose beyond SUD together.
Our vision is to support women in restoring themselves in body, mind, and spirit through evidence-based care and fellowship. Together with other women, you can find friendship, compassion, guidance, accountability, and a lifelong community of women invested in helping you become the woman you deserve to be.
Moreover, as a member of Grace Recovery TX, you will have access to numerous fellowship opportunities with your fellow members.
Activities at Grace Recovery TX include:
- Women’s art fellowship
- Volleyball
- A gym membership to the YMCA
- Dinner recovery meeting
- Access to all meetings related to Grace Recovery TX
To learn more about fellowship opportunities at Grace Recovery TX, visit our Membership page.
Building fellowship with other women in recovery can support you in finding more joy and lifelong bonds as you build a life you are excited to live. At Grace Recovery TX, we believe women supporting women is a vital part of the recovery process. Call us at (737) 237-9663 to learn more today.