Prior to creating your relapse prevention plan, it is essential to take some time for self-assessment. Understanding your triggers and recognizing your high-risk situations will help you tailor your plan to your specific needs. While achieving sobriety or stability is a significant accomplishment, it is not a guarantee that you will remain in that state permanently. Many factors can contribute to relapse, such as triggers, high-risk situations, and emotional turbulence.
Recognizing Early Warning Signs
Support can come from friends, family, support groups, or professional therapists. One of the key roles of a relapse prevention plan is to increase self-awareness. It encourages you to reflect on your past experiences and identify patterns or situations that have led to relapse in the past. By understanding your triggers, you can develop strategies to avoid or cope with them effectively.
Using Professional Help and Resources
The sooner a relapse is addressed, the sooner the individual can get back on track. Studies conducted by the NIDA prove that up to 85% of individuals relapse https://www.savinggain.com/blog/health-topics-genetics-and-alcohol-use-disorder-2/ within a year of treatment. After one year of sobriety, the likelihood of relapse decreases to 50%.
A Guide to Sobriety for LQTBQA+
These connections can provide invaluable support, advice, and encouragement during challenging times, further strengthening the recovery process and preventing relapse. There are many different types of support, including professional support, peer support groups, and the involvement of family and friends. These components serve as the cornerstone for preventing relapse and maintaining sobriety after attending an addiction treatment program. Provide yourself with clear, actionable steps that you’ll take to prevent relapse. Vague suggestions are not as helpful in reaching your goal of a successful recovery journey. You need a strong support system when in recovery, especially right after transitioning from treatment to daily life.
Remember, It’s Possible to Prevent Relapse
- This process involves periodic reviews and adjustments as circumstances and personal situations evolve.
- They can be anything from certain people, places, or situations, to emotions and thoughts that provoke cravings for substances.
- Relapse prevention therapy is also included in most treatment programs.
- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is essential for supporting your recovery.
- Determining what caused a prior relapse is vital in avoiding them in the future.
Leaving treatment and returning home can be challenging, and relapse becomes a more significant concern. A relapse prevention plan is created to help individuals adjust easier and provide them with resources and support to maintain lasting recovery. Nurses and other team members facilitate support groups and help develop tailored relapse prevention plans.
How To Create An Effective Relapse Prevention Plan
However, if you’re serious about staying sober, it can provide structure and guidance, empowering you to manage your recovery actively. Once your triggers and coping skills are identified, spend some time figuring out the skills you need to work on or develop to ensure you can access them when needed. Most people have very specific triggers — spend some time figuring out what your precise triggers are so that you can avoid them. Be specific in this section about who to call in which situation and how often you think you should be attending meetings or contacting your sponsor. You could write down the days and times of meetings or planned calls to help you remember.
Sobriety
Another might want to include long-term goals, such as relapse prevention plan becoming financially stable. It’s not a matter of right or wrong – it comes down to what will work best to keep you motivated and avoid substance use. Relapse can be dangerous for those who have been sober for a long period of time. This indicates that your body has recovered from the drug use, your brain has returned to normal functioning, and you no longer have the tolerance that you used to.
Tips for Writing Relapse Prevention Plans
Every facet of your written recovery plan alcohol rehab should be well-thought-out, clear, and specific. When Tisha can’t avoid the triggering people, she limits interactions with each family member involved. Inspirational quotes can be powerful reminders of your strength, resilience, and goals. They quickly boost motivation when you’re feeling down or facing difficulties. Reading over and thinking about these quotes can strengthen your positive thinking and keep you focused on recovery.
- For example, this may be driving a different direction home from work, so you don’t go by your old buddies’ house where you used to use drugs.
- Honesty fosters a deeper connection with oneself and enhances awareness of triggers.
- Practicing mindfulness in recovery can relax you, improve self-control and help you tackle cravings the right way.
- Substance abuse and crisis hotlines, local hospitals, and support groups are necessary contacts to include in a relapse prevention plan.
Writing an effective plan takes care and forethought, but our relapse prevention plan template has you covered. Understanding what triggers cravings or urges to use substances is potentially one of the most important steps in a prevention plan. Identifying triggers can help you effectively avoid them or develop coping strategies around the most likely triggers. Learning and implementing effective stress management techniques is a vital aspect of relapse prevention. Techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness help individuals manage stress and stay calm.