Everyone will have different emotions that cause their substance use. Ask your therapist for additional guidance if you need help identifying these emotions. Recognizing these emotions can help you seek other therapy or a recovery meeting if necessary. If you’ve relapsed before, try to identify the feelings you felt https://ecosoberhouse.com/ before your relapse.
- Helping clients develop positive addictions or substitute indulgences (e.g. jogging, meditation, relaxation, exercise, hobbies, or creative tasks) also help to balance their lifestyle6.
- This sets a proactive, positive tone for the day and reinforces your commitment to recovery.
- The clinician will use a range of strategies to facilitate these activities.
- At American Addiction Centers, we offer a 90-Day Promise that gives you 30 additional days of complimentary treatment if you relapse after 90 consecutive days at one of our facilities.
- Mindfulness is a practice that involves being present in the moment and being aware of your thoughts without judgment.
- Statistics show that groups like Alcoholics Anonymous make a big difference.
Relapse Prevention Plan: Techniques to Help You Stay on Track
- Here are some proven and effective strategies to help you stay on track and progress in your recovery journey.
- Individuals are encouraged to be completely honest within their recovery circle.
- Shiffman and colleagues describe stress coping where substance use is viewed as a coping response to life stress that can function to reduce negative affect or increase positive affect.
- In this related approach, clinicians teach patients mindful meditation to help them cope with potentially triggering thoughts, feelings, and situations.
- With more effective coping, the patient develops increased confidence to handle challenging situations without alcohol and other drugs (i.e., increased self-efficacy).
You’ll need to examine your past use of drugs and/or alcohol and try to see clearly what triggers led to you using. Make use of whatever recovery support you have around you to do this, as it can cause difficult feelings to surface. Second, mind-body relaxation helps individuals let go of negative thinking such as dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, which are triggers for relapse.
Combating Social Isolation #
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust drug addiction treatment the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs. In a study by McCrady evaluating the effectiveness of psychological interventions for alcohol use disorder such as Brief Interventions and Relapse Prevention was classified as efficacious23. Get professional help, and care for yourself during your recovery.
Join a Support Group
Yes, CBT and DBT are proven therapies that help individuals recognize triggers, manage cravings, and develop healthy coping mechanisms to maintain sobriety. With the right support, therapy, and relapse prevention strategies, individuals can maintain long-term sobriety. To understand the importance of self-care, it helps to understand why most people use drugs and alcohol. It helps to acknowledge these benefits in therapy so that individuals can understand the importance of self-care and be motivated to find healthy alternatives. Probably the most important thing to understand about post-acute withdrawal is its prolonged duration, which can last up to 2 years 1,20. It is not unusual to have no symptoms for 1 to 2 weeks, only to get hit again 1.
Addiction Relapse Prevention
Before getting to a full-blown relapse, however, a person may experience a lapse, described as the initial use of a substance after a period of recovery.1 The late addiction researcher G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D., referred to a lapse as an abstinence violation. According to Marlatt, what matters after a lapse is the person’s emotional response to the violation. This response can be a good indicator of whether the individual will relapse. A strong support network should have peer support programs, sponsors or recovery coaches, and support from family and friends. All these offer emotional support and practical advice during recovery.
Third, mind-body relaxation is a way of being kind to oneself. The practice of self-care during mind-body relaxation translates into self-care in the rest of life. Part of creating a new life in recovery is finding time to relax. Addicts must lie about getting their drug, hiding the drug, denying the consequences, and planning their next relapse.
The Stages of Recovery
It often begins long before someone uses substances again, sometimes unfolding over days, weeks, or even months. It might start with feelings of restlessness, isolation from support systems, or neglecting self-care routines. Recognizing these early signs is a critical step toward staying on track. Self-efficacy is relapse prevention defined as the degree to which an individual feels confident and capable of performing certain behaviour in a specific situational context5.
