Creating a Relapse Prevention Plan: Step-by-Step Guide
This is when people are at risk of relapse, when they are unprepared for the protracted nature of post-acute withdrawal. Clinical experience has shown that when clients struggle with post-acute withdrawal, they tend to catastrophize their chances of recovery. The cognitive challenge is to encourage clients to measure their progress month-to-month rather than day-to-day or week-to-week.
Details About Your Treatment Plan
- This process may be done by yourself or with professional assistance.
- If you’re not sure how to move through the recovery process, follow one of the relapse prevention plan models that are available.
- For example, you might want to make sure you get over 8 hours of sleep no matter what, or you might schedule a massage once a month or have a date night with your significant other once a week.
- The components you acknowledged in your plan at the beginning of your recovery have the potential to change and develop over time, as do the people in your support system.
- The patient swayed between taking or not taking medicine, leading to further aggravation of the disease.
The tasks of this stage are similar to the tasks that non-addicts face in everyday life. When non-addicts do not develop healthy life skills, the consequence is that they may be unhappy in life. When recovering individuals do not develop healthy life skills, the consequence is that they also may be unhappy in life, but that can lead to relapse. One of the important tasks of therapy is to help individuals redefine fun. Clinical experience has shown that when clients are under stress, they tend to glamorize their past use and think about it longingly.
Establish self-care strategies
- This plan acts as a roadmap, providing strategies to prevent relapse and a clear plan for what to do if you do relapse.
- This can be as simple as treating yourself to a favorite activity, spending quality time with loved ones, or indulging in a special treat.
- 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.
- When a person’s self-efficacy is low, they may have a hard time believing in their ability to maintain sobriety.
That way, you can explore new behaviors and thought patterns to help you stay clean. Relapse prevention is an umbrella term that refers to strategies that help reduce the likelihood of relapsing. Most relapse prevention strategies focus on building cognitive-behavioral skills and coping responses. To reduce this risk, the model suggests that people recognize early warning signs relapse prevention plan of slipperiness and take immediate steps to keep it from worsening. This might involve talking with friends, using a coping skill, or seeking professional help as needed. This model holds that people relapse because they lack the necessary skills and support to cope with stressful situations effectively and must alter their behaviors and thinking patterns to remain sober.
What Are The Most Common Relapse Triggers?
Avoid places that incite cravings or urges to use, like bars, pubs, or stores selling drug or alcohol paraphernalia. You can also outline particular activities, movies, music, and video games in your relapse prevention plan. It involves taking the time to tend to your mental and physical health, such as getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, and exercising regularly. There are different models and techniques to include in your relapse prevention plan. They’re based on building your knowledge and skills to combat substance use.
Identify Emotions
Support Network and Resources
Relapse Prevention and the Five Rules of Recovery
Reach out for support
- Returning to drug or alcohol use after treatment for substance use disorder is a part of many people’s recovery journey.
- Probably the most common misinterpretation of complete honesty is when individuals feel they must be honest about what is wrong with other people.
- However, if the patient encounters difficulties and resistance to the medication behaviour, the individual may abandon the behaviour [26].
- After many relapses, most patients believe that the disease is easy to relapse.