Relapse Prevention for the Recovering Addict
My approach to relapse prevention starts with detoxification of the body and an understanding of the twelve-step program—but it doesn’t end there. The twelve steps to recovery are a way of life and adopting any new way of life takes time. Our natural instinct is normally to resist change, even if we realize cognitively that it is best for us. But if you’re serious about relapse prevention then you must be willing to take the journey of self discovery necessary for achieving permanent sobriety.
It is essential to develop a relapse prevention program for yourself that consists of a set of disciplines and processes that will see you through even the most difficult of circumstances. An incomplete relapse prevention plan will help you through many situations, but may crumble if you become truly tested. Most people cannot take the journey from addiction to permanent sobriety alone. Discovering your authentic self requires a support system of people who are on your side and can lead you safely through the journey of recovery.
Though the journey is often difficult and painful at first, what is revealed during this discovery process will eventually fill your life with as much joy and happiness as you will allow.
This experiential approach to recovery is the reason that Floyd and I wrote the book A Twelve-Step Journey to Self Transformation in a way that allows you to experience Floyd’s discovery process as it unfolds rather than telling it from an authoritative point of view. This is also the reason why I designed the program at the Mark Houston Recovery Center to span a full 90 days. Our longer continuum of care affords you the opportunity to live out the experiences of recovery in a safe environment and practice the disciplines of the twelve steps to that they become habits in your lifetime relapse prevention methodology.
Achieving sobriety is a constant practice in self discipline. Even those of us who are living successful lives as recovering addicts must exercise a variety of strategies to achieve our lifetime goal of permanent relapse prevention.
Tap into your inner resource and power to prevent relapse
We all began using our drug of NO choice for a reason that is unique to ourselves which is why your personal relapse prevention plan must be unique to yourself as well. Emotions like anger, resentment, jealousy, and inadequacy can swell up before we even know that they have consumed us. Once you’ve developed a habit for quelling these emotions, the need to satiate those emotions quickly and easily can feel difficult to resist.
However, by identifying these triggers and discovering what causes them, you can learn to prevent them from consuming you and handle them logically. You can learn to replace the reactive behavior with healthy and productive ways of handing trigger problems. In a state of intense emotion, you may feel that all you want to do is self destruct, but if you are reading this now, you know that you’ll regret the self destruction later. The best relapse prevention plan is to tackle the emotion before it takes over.
Stay away from situations which activate your stored memories of addiction
It is an act of insanity to continue to do things that have proven not to work and expect different results. If you continue to surround yourself with the same people and in the same environments that promoted your addiction, you will be testing the limits of your relapse prevention plan.
When your life is ruled by addiction, it’s likely that your friends and your hangouts all revolved around the addiction as well. As unfortunate as it is, you’re likely to find that many of your acquaintances won’t support your desire to change your life. Many will try to chip away at the relapse prevention plan that you’ve developed for yourself in an attempt to feel better about themselves or because of a natural reaction to resist change. Because friends and acquaintances know your weaknesses, it can be easy for them persuade you to have just one more night of fun which is disastrous to your goal of relapse prevention.
Permanent relapse prevention is possible with the right plan
If you or your loved one have tried a drug addiction treatment center but have relapsed, the Mark Houston Recovery Center is the next logical step in achieving a life of permanent sobriety. Throughout the 90 day program, you’ll lay the foundation of your own personal relapse prevention program that you can depend on throughout your life. Take a few moments to browse throughout our website and discover how our program is different from what you may have experienced in the past and then contact us right away at 866-905-4550 if you are ready to reclaim your life.
