Relapse Prevention Therapy and Planning
When you are actively participating in a treatment program, the idea of relapse can seem like it is a world away. You may feel confident that you can stay sober because you’ve addressed the root causes of your addiction. While it’s true that you must address the causes of your addiction, you must also learn practical skills and coping strategies that you can use to prevent relapse in the future.
At Flourishing Foundations Recovery, our job is to enable you to achieve and maintain a sober lifestyle. We have developed a comprehensive relapse prevention program that will help you pave the way for long-term sobriety. We use relapse prevention therapy (RPT) to help you prevent or limit relapses. This approach teaches you about the events that can lead up to relapse and what you can do to cope effectively.
What is Relapse Prevention Therapy (RPT)?
Relapse prevention therapy (RPT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that addresses the behaviors and emotions leading up to relapse. RPT aims to prevent drug and alcohol relapse by teaching individuals how to predict, evaluate, and cope with situations or circumstances that may trigger a relapse. The goal of RPT is to help you identify triggering people, places, or things that make you want to use drugs or alcohol and develop a relapse prevention plan that will help you stay sober.
What to Expect From Relapse Prevention Therapy (RPT)
Relapse prevention therapy is led by a licensed substance abuse counselor and can be facilitated in individual or group settings. In a group setting, the therapist may help group members identify circumstances that make them feel stressed, angry, alone, or sad. Group members discuss among themselves why these circumstances provoke unwanted emotions, and how those emotions can lead to destructive behaviors or substance use.
The therapist also helps the group understand the different stages of relapse. The stages of relapse are as follows:
- Emotional relapse – You begin experiencing painful emotions that can lead to relapse, but fail to address them properly.
- Mental relapse – You begin toying with thoughts of using drugs or alcohol, but you don’t necessarily want to sacrifice your sobriety.
- Physical relapse – After failing to address symptoms of emotional and mental relapse, you justify your substance use and engage in drinking or drug use.
Once the group can identify the signs and symptoms of each phase of relapse, they can begin developing an actionable plan to prevent relapse from occurring. This relapse prevention plan may consist of self-care, support groups, 12-Step sponsorship, and coping skills like meditation, deep breathing, or journaling. Clients will identify high-risk situations and discuss what they would do if the situation occurred in real life. Preparing for circumstances that may lead to relapse can help individuals know what to do to stay sober in real-world situations.
Clients also learn to identify the warning signs of relapse so they can stop relapse in real time.
During individual therapy, your therapist will help you customize your relapse prevention plan to meet your unique needs. You may even dive deeper into your triggers and feelings.
Benefits of Relapse Prevention Therapy in Addiction Treatment
Whether this is your first time getting sober or you are returning to rehab after a relapse, you can benefit from relapse prevention therapy. Studies show that more than half of people who seek substance abuse treatment relapse at some point in their recovery, but relapse is less likely in people who have a detailed relapse prevention plan in place.
If you have relapsed, RPT can help you analyze your relapse piece by piece. You will gain a thorough understanding of your triggers, your emotions preceding a relapse, and what you need to do in the future to stay on the right path.
If this is your first time getting sober, you may be unaware of what recovery is like. You may not understand what triggers are, how relapse happens, or what is required of you to stay sober. RPT can clear up these uncertainties for you so you are equipped with the tools and coping skills you need to achieve long-term sobriety.
The biggest benefit of relapse prevention therapy is that it can help you reduce relapse. By reducing your risk of relapse, you can also prevent an overdose and other adverse health effects that would otherwise develop if you continued using drugs or alcohol.
Start Your Recovery at Flourishing Foundations Recovery Today
Addiction recovery is about more than just detoxing and treating the causes of your addiction–it is also about learning how to establish a lifetime of sobriety. Our evidence-based addiction treatment program combines elements of holistic healing with behavioral therapy and psychotherapy to help you build a solid foundation for your recovery.
If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, it’s time to get the help you deserve. Call now to get started.