While addiction is a chronic relapsing condition, lifelong recovery is possible. A sufficient relapse prevention plan can help you preserve sobriety in the short and long term. In fact, effective relapse prevention planning is a key feature of successful treatment.
A relapse prevention plan can be made and adjusted at any time in recovery. Dream Recovery ensures our clients have access to this service at every level of care.
What Is a Relapse Prevention Plan?
Relapse prevention is a sub-phase of addiction treatment. Of course, relapse is possible at any stage of recovery. However, it is relatively easy to refrain from using substances while in inpatient treatment or another controlled environment. Preventing relapse outside of inpatient treatment or sober living can be another story.
Life in the “Real World”
Stepping into the real world without a plan in place to preserve sobriety is as foolish as leaping from an airplane without a parachute. You worked hard to detox and start recovery. Now, you can protect your progress by knowing how you will address your vulnerabilities and triggers before being re-exposed to your old environment or drug of choice “in the wild.”
Problems and Solutions
Relapse prevention plans anticipate the problems you are likely to encounter in the real world. For each of these potential problems, they offer possible solutions.
The process of developing a relapse prevention plan begins by identifying your relapse risks. Your chosen treatment professionals can then work with you to develop skills and alternative behavior choices.
Some aspects of your plan may be clinical, such as maintaining appointments with your providers. Others may address more personal risks. For example, an alcoholic who used to tend bar still needs to pay the bills but should not return to their old job. Applying their abilities at a coffee shop or restaurant may be a practical solution.
Establishing a healthy, safe home environment is key as well. People in recovery may also need to change phone numbers, make new friends, and develop new coping skills. All at once.
What Should My Relapse Prevention Plan Entail?
Everyone has unique triggers and issues. This means professionals must tailor relapse prevention to the individual. Deciding the proper way to handle challenging people and situations ahead of time is much simpler than dealing with everything in the moment, where we are easily overwhelmed.
For customized relapse prevention plan should address the following three areas.
#1. Treatment Plan
Knowing and committing to long-term treatment is vital. Many professionals recommend mapping out the basics of your first year of recovery. This tends to be the most vulnerable period for most people. If you are just leaving detox or quit at home, it is critical to get an evaluation regarding your needs.
Inpatient or outpatient treatments involving therapy are central to kicking bad habits for good. Otherwise, you are at risk of falling back into old patterns. Developing new healthy behaviors will require some effort on your part, but doing this is easier with peer and professional assistance.
#2. Aftercare
Exiting treatment properly for your situation is crucial. Clinical and social supports are both vital.
When you make this exciting transition, you may also need to address personal issues, such as financial problems, housing, or food insecurity. Outlining the challenges you will be facing and developing a plan for each can help you set yourself up for success.
#3. Safety and Crisis Planning
Recovery is rarely without its mental health, relationship, or substance-involved bumps along the way. If you are a dual-diagnosis patient, safety planning around your greatest psychiatric risks is wise.
That said, any of us can experience crisis or trauma. At Dream Recovery, our experts can offer case-specific advice around forming a crisis plan. Knowing how to address emergencies can preserve your recovery amid life’s most unexpected challenges.
What If Relapse Prevention Fails?
With relapse rates between 40-60% for all substances and as high as 91% for opioid users, relapse is an unfortunately common reality.
Do not be discouraged if your relapse prevention plan doesn’t always pan out perfectly. This does not mean you should give up. Your plan simply was not appropriate for your situation.
Relapse Autopsies
A “relapse autopsy” is a fairly common practice in these cases. You can work with your professionals to figure out what went wrong and why. By doing so, you are proving a mistake is not a failure. If you learn from the experience, you can “fail forward” with a better understanding of your unique recovery needs.
Single-Use Relapse
Using a single time does not guarantee relapse. Continued use, however, does. While using their drug of choice quickly causes most people in recovery to fall back into full-blown addiction, some can moderate in the face of consequences. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that using again is more common than not.
Indeed, roughly 60% of people recovering from alcoholism relapse within 90 days of detoxing. Avoid sitting in shame if this is part of your journey. Your clean time still counts, and you can use this opportunity to learn resilience.
Relapse Prevention Plans Can Help You Move Forward
Practically speaking, know how you will manage a lapse in recovery. Understanding what to do if you relapse can help you quickly restabilize your recovery.
The professionals at Dream Recovery can directly help clients in these situations. We don’t believe in punishing a patient for displaying symptoms of their disease. Rather, our team will adjust the treatment plan appropriately to the individual. Though we strive for prevention, we also understand many patient journeys include more than one detoxification-treatment-relapse cycle.
Not everyone has the luxury of immediate professional assistance. However, most people can and should contribute to their own relapse prevention strategies. Dream Recovery’s specialists are well-versed in best practices. We work individually with you or your loved one to establish a positive recovery and bounce back when plans go awry.
Relapse is a common feature in the addiction recovery journey. At Dream Recovery, we have seen how thorough prevention planning and individualized care help the recovering client in real life. We appreciate that everyone has a different story, life, and goals for the future. For this reason, we practice care that is tailored to you or your loved one’s history and needs. We also know our clients are highly intelligent and capable of forging the plan alongside our experts. Our center makes use of 12-Step recovery, evidence-based treatments, and medication as tools. Together, we help clients build their life after substance use. To learn more about relapse or our services, call us at (657) 216-7218.
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