Clearing your system of drugs and alcohol is only the beginning step to getting sober. There is much more work to be done. Ensuring you have a solid relapse prevention plan is like pouring the concrete into your sobriety foundation. It won’t hold without it.
Did you know that there is a multitude of studies that suggest relapse rates are between 40% and 75%? The two numbers have a drastic difference, but neither is insignificant. On average, people receiving opioid treatment have an even higher rate of relapse.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH): “Research shows that the majority of abstinent alcohol and/or opioid dependence subjects relapse within one year. It has also been estimated that 26–36 million people worldwide abuse opiates, with exceptionally high relapse rates.”
That’s not difficult to believe. It felt like everyone I met in rehab had relapsed once, twice, or even countless times. I met one person with an opioid use disorder who had been in over a dozen rehab facilities. It can feel bleak.
So, it is more important than ever for you to have a solid relapse prevention plan and implement successful strategies to help you maintain your sobriety. Here are the best strategies in aiding your success.
Establish a Support Network
Having a healthy support network that understands what you’re going through and can offer genuine guidance is helpful in maintaining your sobriety. Many people in recovery seek community within their meeting-based programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
Others find fellowship in their church, including in Christ-centered meetings like Celebrate Recovery. Don’t be completely alone in this. It is critical that you know who you can depend on when a craving or temptation shows up, and you need someone to confide in who will not only listen but guide you to the help you need. Be it coming over and sitting with you, praying with you, taking you to a meeting, or encouraging you to call a professional.
It is vital that you cut out all of the people in your life who you used and abused substances with. Forget about depending on your old drinking buddies. People in active addiction do not understand recovery, and they may inadvertently, or very bluntly, encourage you to relapse. “Oh, come on, buddy. You can have just one for my birthday.” Don’t put yourself in vulnerable situations.
I understand that this may be a more difficult request regarding family members. However, especially during the critical beginning stages of becoming clean and sober, you must not allow anyone to hinder your sobriety. Because ultimately, you are choosing life over death. You’ve made it.
Still, statistics are stacked against you because of situations involving people returning to their using environments — doing what they already know — falling back into bad habits and poor routines. Don’t be the statistic. If you know there is someone who most certainly will pull you back into the darkness, let them go.
Goal Setting and Accountability
What does accountability mean to you? Your support network is great for holding you accountable. However, it’s vital that you take accountability for yourself as well. Part of taking accountability is by setting short-term and long-term goals.
Writing your goals down is necessary. This practice causes you to clearly define what you want. Your big WHY? As well as to create a plan on how you’re going to bring your goals to fruition. You must set goals so that you have the ambition to achieve them, and to enjoy the healthy dopamine hits that accompany accomplishing them.
Another effective method is by having an accountability partner. This can make the process easier. However, I wouldn’t partner with someone you might find yourself in a relationship with.
Seriously, the last thing you need is a codependent romance setting you up for relapse. Rehab romances notoriously lead to relapsing. Don’t do it! Give yourself a fighting chance.
Have a Relapse Prevention Plan
Having a plan of attack before temptation strikes is your best defense against relapse. Many people in recovery find filling in worksheets to be a handy tool in their arsenal. Putting plans on paper helps reinforce your commitment to staying clean and sober.
This relapse prevention plan downloads as a digitally editable PDF. So you can choose to edit the pages from your phone or computer. Or you can opt to download it and fill it in manually. I personally prefer the hard copy. But what’s most important is that you choose the method that you will honestly commit to completing.
H.A.L.T. for Relapse Prevention
Understanding and using H.A.L.T. is one of the greatest weapons in your relapse prevention arsenal. The acronym stands for Hungry, Angry, Tired, or Lonely. This tool serves to help you assess why you are experiencing intense cravings.
Or when you’re mentally consumed with ideas of relapse. Stop and ask yourself, am I hungry? Am I angry? Am I lonely? Am I tired? Write it down if that helps you. After determining that one of these feelings is causing these temptations, you’ll be able to handle that emotion with the relapse prevention plan you’ve put into place.
If accessing the situation doesn’t prove to be related to H.A.L.T., have a course of action for what to do next. For example, are you in a 12-step recovery program? Your relapse prevention plan should include a meeting.
Additionally, you would find a sponsor to reach out to when in need. What does your plan look like if you do not subscribe to the 12-step method? Who is your support system? You don’t need to do the 12 steps to stay sober, but you need a support network in place. Who is that for you?
Answer the Difficult Questions
Trusting the process means facing emotions that may cause you to feel uncomfortable. Part of this process requires answering the difficult questions. You need to heal before you can move on.
You already know that avoiding doesn’t work. It often leads people right back to their vices. There are a few questions that everyone in recovery should answer for themselves.
Defining these boundaries early in recovery will benefit your journey. What would happen if you chose to use drugs or alcohol again? What are you doing to strengthen your recovery?
Really think about the answers before writing them down. Be as detailed as possible in your answers. Not only will this reinforce what you want from recovery, but it is a helpful tool to reflect on in the future.
Start Expressing Gratitude
Have you ever heard the expression, “Cultivate an attitude of gratitude?” It is relevant to recovery. Gracious people are less stressed and generally happier. Starting the day with gratitude is my preferred practice of relapse prevention.
It begins your day with a positive attitude that carries on into the day. Ask yourself what you are most grateful for in your life. Who are the people you’re most grateful to have in your support network?
As someone in recovery, you have a lot to be grateful about. You’re here. You’re alive, and you’re getting healthy. Are you proud of yourself? You should be! Remember that every step of your recovery journey is your own.
We all recover differently. So don’t let anyone take away from how far you have come. Try to dedicate five minutes a day to expressing gratitude. Practicing daily gratitude reinforces the positives in your conscience. Ideally, it will pull you out of a place of negativity, which can lead to making poor decisions that can jeopardize your sobriety.
Mastering Forgiveness
You can’t experience healing without first expressing forgiveness. Forgiveness for others, but also, you need to master forgiveness for yourself. Carrying around anger, guilt, and shame is a heavy burden to bear. Forgiveness is the ultimate release from the bondage of these emotions. Holding onto personal guilt and shame eats away at you until it manifests into another problem.
It’s vital for your recovery that you forgive yourself. It is the ultimate sacrifice. Letting go of what used to be and never really was, right? That wasn’t you. This is you. Right here, right now. Let it all go, and finally, learn how to love yourself.
If you refuse to do the work that forgiveness involves, you have a higher relapse rate. Unresolved trauma and pain don’t disappear because you got clean. It’s necessary to work through your hardships. I go straight to the source and pray for the Lord’s grace there.
Speak Daily Recovery Affirmations
Speaking recovery affirmations is a fantastic mental exercise that aids in changing your mindset. Furthermore, you’re manifesting their reality by saying these words out loud. Did you know that? Affirmations work because by repeating the same statement over and over, it becomes powerful and authoritative.
Your conscience will start to believe the words you’re projecting onto yourself. It’s an incredible phenomenon. A brief warning about toxic positivity, it sucks! So, it’s important that your affirmations genuinely acknowledge your circumstances.
Affirmations such as “I’m beautiful” and “I’ve got this” are a little generic. Instead, try, “I’m strong enough to handle what comes my way today. There is beauty in my strength.” Or “By the grace of God, I’ve got this. I am blessed in leading a sober life.”
Write a Relapse Prevention Letter to Yourself
Write a release prevention letter. What would you say to yourself in your lowest moments to keep you from using or drinking again? This is an extremely important and effective relapse prevention tool. If you use it. It allows you to reflect on your own warning before committing to a relapse.
Here is a sample of questions to consider. Think back on the times that you have hurt yourself while using drugs and/or alcohol. What did that feel like? Why don’t you want to feel that way again? How did you behave? Did you behave in ways that are not who you are sober?
Were you being your best self? Is that who you want to be? Who did you hurt when you were using? How did you feel hurting them? What would happen to those relationships if you started using or drinking again?
Don’t run from those emotions. Document them in your letter. They might save your life by revisiting them one day. Don’t dismiss this as a silly exercise. Remember that this tool is for your strength in darker times. Life always has its seasons.
So keep it in a safe place that you will remember. It’s a common practice used in recovery. Furthermore, it’s a beautiful act of loving yourself. Which is a necessary step to conquering addiction and choosing sobriety.
Start Prayer Journaling
Honestly, prayer is your biggest ally because it means trusting God to guide you in the right decisions and keep you out of places that may hinder your sobriety.
That said, I’m experiencing tremendous success with prayer journaling in my recovery. Prayer journaling creates an intimate and personal relationship with God. Your higher power and your higher self.
It’s a place where you can express your fears and ask for courage. Spend time asking for what you want and need in your life. Be specific with the details. For example, don’t simply state, “Lord help keep me sober.”
Instead, try, “Lord, thank you for keeping my mind, my heart, and my actions focused on my sobriety. I’m keeping you at the center of my recovery and am blessed by the support network you’ve brought into my life. Thank you, Lord.”
One of the best parts about prayer journaling is that you can look back and see where God has blessed you in answering them. I’m convinced I prayed so hard for my husband he had no choice but to fall in love!
Looking back on those prayers and seeing what the Lord put on my heart before I knew what I was praying about is astounding. You begin to see the big and the little ways God works in your life. You’re own personal miracles.
Get Professional Help
You should seek professional help, such as counseling or therapy, to help identify your triggers and underlying causes, such as unhealed trauma, neglect, or abandonment issues. Psychological treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) have been proven to help people work through their things by giving them the tools they need to experience healing.
Healing is a necessary part of relapse prevention. If you do not work through your underlying issues, unresolved traumas, and other personal triggers, you are setting yourself up to return to substance abuse.
One thing that needs to be discussed more is how important it is to find the right therapist or counselor to work with you through your issues. It can sometimes take seeing two or three before you find a good one. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of having ones that could have been better, and after speaking with friends, it’s common. Refrain from assuming that they are the right fit for you because they are professionals, and then give up when you don’t feel like you’re being heard or helped. Find the right one.
Engage in Something You’re Passionate About
Find your passion and indulge it to bring you joy. Revisiting your prior passions or finding new ones can help you rediscover your purpose, making relapse less desirable. Engaging in hobbies can help keep your mind occupied and distracted from entertaining the idea of relapse.
Is there something you enjoy doing? What makes you happy? Hobbies can range from crafting, scrapbooking, video games, restoring cars, repurposing things, sports, building LEGO sets, creating art, bird-watching, gardening, and everything in between.
If you can’t find something you like right away, don’t allow that to discourage you from trying new things until something lands. It is important that you combat restlessness and boredom while providing yourself with healthy dopamine rewards.
Be Diligent About Self-Care
Self-care is relevant to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and is your first step to loving yourself. It’s common for people with active addiction or depression to neglect their self-care, including basic needs like showering and brushing their teeth.
Make getting adequate sleep a top priority. Make bathing and teeth brushing mandatory acts of loving yourself. The earlier you complete these loving acts of self-care, the better your day will be. I don’t know how many times I’ve battled the idea of getting in the shower — only to get in — and immediately I’m at peace.
The water and smells of all the soaps and exfoliators awaken the senses, providing a delightful start to the day. Naturally, after the shower, your teeth are aching to be brushed and you will look and feel your best when completely clean.
Self-care can mean different things to people. After successfully implementing essential self-care grooming needs, tend to things like setting and keeping appointments, exercising, making healthy eating choices, and, again, indulging your passions. What does self-care look like to you?
Develop Coping Skills
Learning healthy coping skills is essential in helping you manage difficult emotions and situations without turning to substances to numb and escape. Healthy coping skills for recovery may include techniques like deep breathing exercises, visualization, or journaling.
While prayer journaling is something I cannot recommend enough, it’s helpful to write in a regular journal to help you work through and process what is going on inside of your head. Meditation and mindfulness are a couple of other practices that people in recovery have contributed to their success.
Develop Grounding Techniques
Have you heard of the five-senses grounding technique? Developing grounding techniques is an excellent tool to keep in your relapse prevention kit. You intentionally take in the details of your environment using each of your senses when using the 5-4-3-2-1 technique.
Begin the exercise by taking three deep breaths. Then complete the five-step process:
- Name five things you see around you.
- Name four things you can touch around you.
- Name three things you can hear around you.
- Name two things you can smell around you.
- Name one thing you can taste around you.
Finish with a long, deep breath. Being aware of your senses and surroundings increases mindfulness and brings you into the present time.
This practice will help you to feel less overwhelmed, giving you absolute control over your reactions, emotions, and life. Learn how to control those things, and life will be easier and happier in many ways, including overcoming negative and unhealthy thinking, accomplishing daily tasks, and reducing your risk of relapse.
You are a fantastic human being, and you got this! Recovery is possible. I’m celebrating a decade (2023) of living opioid and heroin free. The beginning stages were naturally the most challenging, but it truly does get easier. Grab your free relapse prevention plan and focus on one day at a time. God bless you in your recovery.
Popular Sober Healing Posts and Resources
Here are some of Sober Healing’s most popular posts and addiction and recovery.
- Staying Sober: 12 Best Things You Can Do Today
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Here is a comprehensive drug and alcohol recovery online meeting guide. There are 12-step and secular programs, as well as a diverse list of niche meeting groups.