To survive in this world, a person must be taught how to live in the world. This means someone had to teach you how to talk, walk, read, talk to others, and other life skills. A person does not wake up knowing how to do all these things one day. However, not all people had parents or guardians who taught them essential life skills like eating a balanced, healthy meal or finding a doctor. Some people have to figure things out on their own or do their best.

Trauma, or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), in early life are usually associated with adverse health and behavior outcomes. This is because in childhood when a person is in their crucial developmental years, they learn different life skills that help them into adolescence and adulthood. When people are not taught those skills, they grow up into adults that lack the knowledge and skills to do the things needed to get them through their everyday life.

People with substance use disorders (SUDs) typically lack some crucial skills to get into adulthood. This is due to some reasons people develop SUDs, like neglect, early exposure to drugs and alcohol, or simple genetics. Due to this, adulting classes are a benefit in any SUD treatment facility.

Adulting Classes

A significant barrier to treatment is the lack of skills needed to find suitable treatment facilities. Imagine you are an addict and have never had to research something in your lifetime. You conclude that your lifestyle is unhealthy, and you want help. The first time you have to open Google and search “substance abuse treatment,” you may be overwhelmed will all the options that pop up.

Due to these factors, you may quit your search because it is overwhelming. Or, you may choose the first treatment place, which does not treat you right and ends up counterproductive to recovery. People need help from others sometimes, and there is no shame in that. We all had to be taught the things we know at one point or another.

Substance abuse programs that offer holistic treatment create programs that focus on healing the whole person, not just their substance abuse. This allows people to heal their bodies, minds, and spirits through therapy, healthy eating, and even adulting classes for necessary life skills. A person can choose which classes they participate in, but they usually cover five areas.

#1. Domestic Skills

Sewing and cooking classes are domestic skills that were previously taught in school. They have sadly phased out of high schools, which translates to many people not knowing how to do necessary things like planning a week of meals or organizing their important documents. These skills instill good practices for a person to care for themselves and their home.

#2. Financial Skills

If you cannot budget, you will struggle to get from one paycheck to the next. Adulting classes covering financial skills focus on the following:

• Managing a bank account
• Organizing financial documents
• Understanding and establishing credit
• Comparing prices while shopping

#3. Relationship Skills

Relationships are one of the most necessary yet complex things in life. Humans need interactions, attention, and affection from other people as social creatures. If a baby does not get human interactions early in life, it can develop a failure to thrive. That is how meaningful relationships and interactions with other people are.

Like any other life skill, how to interact with others, maintain relationships, and solve problems with others must be taught. Relationship skills classes will help people understand how to listen and communicate. They will also help someone learn to resolve problems and gain emotional intelligence. This will create better and lasting relationships with others.

#4. Job Skills

Have you ever applied for a job on Indeed? When applying for a job, Indeed will often have a person submit a resume, then manually fill in the same work experience on a different form. If you are new to applying to jobs, that could be extremely frustrating and confusing. You would not know why an employer would require both a resume and for you to fill in your experiences, skill, and education. As a result, you may skip it and miss out on a job opportunity.

It is not well known that employers nowadays test applicants’ ability to follow basic instructions by having them manually enter their resume after uploading it as a document. How would you know this unless someone taught you? Job skill classes can help a person understand the way employers hire, which can lead to less frustration. They also teach people the basic skills to apply for and get a job, interview, and negotiate pay.

#5. Other Skills

Each person will encounter many situations they do not know how to handle. These can range from being a parent for the first time to how to study for an anatomy class. It is not easy being an adult on your own. Adulting classes offer other skills classes covering random yet crucial life skills you may never expect to need.

Are you struggling to manage a cleaning schedule for your house? Did you miss out on crucial classes because of substance abuse? It is never too late to learn new skills, and no one is too old to ask for help. At Laguna Shores Recovery Center, we understand that adulting is a lifelong process. Our professional yet family-like staff strives to create a welcoming and non-judgmental environment for our guests. We offer a variety of life skills through our adulting 101 classes. Our facility strives to teach you the skills needed to thrive in a life of recovery. To learn more about treatment options at Laguna Shores, call 954-688-5806 today.