How To Create A Successful Relapse Prevention Plan

A relapse prevention plan is a personalised document that will help you determine your risk of relapse and clarify your thoughts on how to handle these risks. You can create a relapse prevention plan alone, and templates are available online that will allow you to do this. However, working with a professional will help you write the best plan for you.

The plan will be divided into sections, allowing you to consider your relapse prevention strategy step by step.

Everyone’s relapse prevention plan will differ, but it could contain any key elements below.

Write down the reasons you decided to stop drinking or using drugs

Writing down your reasons for quitting can be a good place to start. This has a lot in common with motivational interviewing, a counselling technique often used in addiction recovery that aims to strengthen one’s motivations for behavioural change.

When entering recovery, you may feel very motivated to maintain sobriety, but this motivation can wax and wane, and triggers will test your motivation.

By reflecting on why you’ve decided to quit and writing it down, you have a concrete reminder of why you’re in recovery from drugs or alcoholism and something to return to if you’re tempted to use again.

List your triggers

Triggers, such as emotions, thoughts, sensations and beliefs, can be external. They can also be external, like places, people, events and times of the day. Triggers can be things you encounter regularly, such as evenings after work when you would normally go to the pub, or rarely, like birthdays, holidays, or weddings.

Listing your triggers will form a large part of your relapse prevention plan, and it may be useful to break them down into different types of triggers. Some types of triggers you may want to list are:

Write down your coping strategies

After writing down your triggers, think of coping strategies that can be employed to control them. This can be as simple as just leaving the triggering situation or more protracted, like learning a new technique like meditation.

Coping strategies can be short-term or longer-term practices that boost your resilience and well-being.

Short-term coping strategies can include:

• Reminding yourself why you’ve stopped
• Challenging the triggering thought
• Distracting yourself
• Talking to someone you trust
• Reminding yourself the situation will end

Longer-term coping strategies can include:

• Calming practices include mindfulness techniques, relaxation exercises, meditation and yoga. (Elaborate on the importance of setting personal boundaries)
• Stress management techniques
• Journaling
• Attending group therapies or support meetings
• Planning, outlining and setting boundaries with others who can’t be avoided and may not respect your decision to work on your sobriety and mental health.

Identify supportive people

Have a list of people you can contact when your triggers feel overwhelming. Friends, family, support group members and sponsors who you trust and support your sobriety can be a lifeline.

Tell these trusted people what you need from them and that you’re including them in your relapse prevention plan. Communicate with them what you will need when you contact them.

List some healthy habits

Poor self-care is often an early warning sign of the risk of relapse. While healthy habits might not seem like a priority when starting addiction recovery, they’re crucial for preventing relapse and maintaining good mental health. This section is an opportunity to outline how you will structure your day and the good habits you want to ensure you won’t neglect. Some healthy habits include:

• A form of enjoyable exercise
• Getting good sleep with a regular bedtime
• Ensuring you’re eating good food regularly
• Checking in with supportive friends or family members
• Hygiene and grooming
• Counselling or therapy

Outline emergency plans

Many people think that preventing relapse is rehearsing saying no to opportunities to use – but this is actually the last and most difficult stage to stop. Long-term recovery plans are designed to help you avoid getting to this stage. However, if you find yourself in an emergency and aren’t sure how to deal with it, a good emergency plan can be called upon to prevent you from relapsing.

This can include reaching out to one of your emergency supports, and identifying resources in advance you can get in touch with in case of emergency. Researching and listing resources such as crisis hotlines, support teams, and addiction treatment centres will give you things to draw upon if you’re facing a crisis.

Ongoing recovery

Relapse prevention is an ongoing process. It needs sustained effort, tenacity and commitment. Your plan is a valuable blueprint for how to navigate the challenges you will face during recovery.

A relapse prevention plan can be a living document and is not set in stone. New triggers and challenges can arise as you move through recovery, and new coping methods and sources of support can be uncovered. Recovery is also a process of learning and self-discovery. The things that you discover and learn can form part of your strategy and can be added to your relapse prevention plan as you go along.