You need a lot of courage to enter detox and withdraw from a drug that’s controlling your life. From there, it requires dogged determination to go through a rehab program and re-learn life skills. But what does it take to achieve lasting relapse prevention? In fact, this process starts early on during your recovery.
Relapse Prevention Starts With an Accurate Diagnosis
Perhaps the most important task for achieving long-term sobriety happens during the initial intake interview. Professionals work with you to accurately diagnose your condition. From there, a customized treatment protocol ensures that you receive the particular treatment that you need. Doing so allows therapists to meet your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. At this time, therapists will also decide what the best program is for you, whether that be outpatient treatment or even an inpatient 90-day treatment program.
Therapy Is Key to Relapse Prevention
At San Antonio Recovery Center, we know that addiction is a disease. That's why we treat a variety of substance addictions—we want to help you overcome the disease that is addiction. Our addiction treatment programs include rehab aftercare programs that focus on helping you avoid relapse. From withdrawal and detox to therapy, San Antonio Recovery Center is with you every step of the way. No matter the substance, the intensity of your addiction, or how long you've been addicted, we can help you. Addictions treated as part of relapse prevention at San Antonio Recovery Center include the following:
- Adderall Addiction
- Alcohol Addiction
- Benzo Addiction
- Cocaine Addiction
- Fentanyl Addiction
- Heroin Addiction
- Marijuana Addiction
- MDMA Addiction
- Meth Addiction
- Opiate Addiction
- Opioid Addiction
- Polysubstance Addictions
- Prescription Drug Addiction
Tips for Relapse Prevention In Aftercare
As you participate in therapy sessions and work on healthy coping skills for recovery, the emphasis of the sessions gradually shifts. You’ll begin to collaborate with peer groups and counselors to explore ways of dealing with trigger situations. At this time, you’ll learn a broad range of valuable ways to stay on track, including:
- Identifying triggers. What caused you to reach for drugs or alcohol before? Because there are some triggers that you can’t remove, work stress, for example, you need to learn new coping skills. But first, you need to uncover these stressors.
- Building an action plan. Once you identify the triggers, create a plan to effectively handle them without using drugs or alcohol. This may include calling a friend, attending a meeting, talking to your sponsor or counselor, and spending time outdoors.
- Re-evaluating peer groups. Friends, colleagues, and acquaintances can all be detrimental to your recovery. If you find that some of these individuals may contribute to a potential relapse, work out strategies to minimize interactions. It’s also important to find new, supportive peer groups to join.
- Establishing new routines and habits. Humans are creatures of habit. If you’ve been going the same bar every Tuesday for years or you always smoke a cigarette with your morning coffee, these habits become a part of your life. In a perfect storm, habits and old routines become the fall back when triggers make you feel out of control. Create new routines as soon as possible to avoid slipping back into destructive ones.
- Maintaining support networks. Having a strong support system is crucial for relapse prevention. Check in regularly with your sponsor and speak honestly about any challenges that come up so you can work on them together. It’s also important to make time for family and friends who can provide positive reinforcement and help you stay accountable.
- Practicing healthy self-care. Relapse prevention is all about taking care of yourself, both physically and mentally. Make sure to get enough sleep, eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and practice mindfulness or meditation to stay connected to yourself.
- Putting relapse prevention first. It’s easy to develop a false sense of security. After a while of living sober, you might figure you’re safe. At this point, it’s tempting to quit going to meetings or only attend sporadically. Instead, attend every meeting, continuously check in with your peer support, and go to all recovery alumni gatherings.
- Knowing when you need help. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s important to reach out for help from your support system or a professional. You don’t have to struggle alone; there are plenty of resources available for relapse prevention.
Putting a Relapse Into Perspective
Staying mindful and proactive about your recovery is key in helping you remain sober. With the right support and guidance, you can develop a relapse prevention plan that works for you.
If in spite of researching relapse prevention tips and committing to follow them, you stumble, it's not a catastrophe. Therapists working in addiction rehab programs know that a hiccup along the road to recovery is normal. Don't lose hope. Call the caring experts at San Antonio Recovery Center at 866.957.7885 to learn more about aftercare programs.
