Keyword
Relapse Prevention
28 articles · newest and most helpful first
Urge Surfing: Beat Cravings and Relapse with a Mindfulness Technique
For the next 10 seconds, try not to think of a pink elephant…Impossible, right?! The fact is, the more you try to suppress an impulse to use drugs or alcohol the more fixated your mind becomes on that very impulse, and this is bad news for anyone serious about maintaining their sobriety. Fortunately, you don’t have to drink or use and you don’t have to fight or suppress your cravings, all you have to do is surf over them and they’ll disappear – using a proven mindfulness technique known as urge surfing.
Preventing Relapse: 7 Common Exercise Excuses - Refuted!
Getting into a daily exercise habit reduces your odds of addiction relapse – so what’s stopping you? Here are the 7 most common exercise excuses – all refuted!
Creating Sober Excitement – Beating the Blahs to Beat Relapse
After a few months, it’s easy to hit a recovery wall and start to feel bored and dissatisfied with your new clean and sober lifestyle. This dissatisfaction will pass, but until it does, you can lower your risk of relapse by taking some time to plan islands of excitement to look forward to.
8 Item Recovery Wellness Checklist – Avoid Relapse and Get Healthy and Happy
Decrease your relapse odds and increase your happiness, resilience and health by focusing on balanced wellness. Here’s an 8 item wellness checklist with suggestions for small changes you can make today.
Those Good Old Bad Old Days – How Selective Memories Sabotage Recovery and How Treatment Helps You Squash Them
Selective memories of drug or alcohol use - where you remember the fun and forget the pain - are common in recovery, and unless you’re careful…they can END your recovery. Learn what triggers selective memories, how to spot them and how to squash them.
No Relapse; Medications Used After Rehab Can Help
The initial weeks and months after alcohol rehab are a time of great temptation and cravings. Three commonly used medications can help to reduce the strength of cravings, and help you stay sober.
Occupations with Highest Rates of Substance Abuse
In recovery, it’s helpful to avoid over exposure to peers who abuse drugs and alcohol. Here’s some information on the occupations that are most and least associated with substance abuse.
Preparing for Your First Job in Recovery
Getting your first job in recovery can be a scary thing to consider. You probably need the money, but you're also scared of relapse - how can you know when you're ready? Read on to find out how to prepare yourself for safe employment now that you're in recovery.
SAMHSA’s 10 Rules for a Successful Recovery
After convening a panel of experts and consumers to talk about what’s really important in the recovery process SAMHSA has released an updated 10 rule guidebook on sustaining a successful recovery. Here are the 10 things you need to do to achieve and maintain your recovery.
Don’t Let a Slip Turn Into a Relapse
Some basic facts about relapse, why a slip never needs to mean the end of a recovery or that treatment has failed, what to do if you slip (right away) and how to reduce your odds of relapse in the first place.
Relapse Prevention Programs - Learning to Avoid Relapse after Drug Rehab
Learn why virtually all addiction treatment programs spend a great deal of time and energy teaching relapse prevention strategies. Why they do it, what they teach and what you need to learn.
Learning from Relapse: 13 Questions to Ask Yourself after a Slip
Ask and answer the following 13 questions after a slip to identify exactly what led you into trouble.
A No-Relapse Guide to Coping with Grief & Loss
Grief and loss can rock you, no matter how strong your recovery. Learn to grieve in healthy ways to sustain your recovery and honor your departed loved-one.
How to Strengthen Your Family to Help a Loved-One in Rehab
Are you willing to make changes to become the kind of family that really supports recovery? Find out more about how strong families prevent relapse and about how you can strengthen your family, starting from today.
Learning to Have Fun in Recovery
Boredom in recovery can lead addicts to relapse so it is important to find ways to have fun in recovery. This article explores ways to discover new interests and fun activities to keep people in recovery from feeling bored and restless.
In Recovery? A 7 Step Guide to Solving Problems without Drugs or Alcohol
If you’re in recovery you’re probably used to dealing with problems by getting drunk or high. Unexpected problems are still coming (as they always do) so get ready for them. Learn effective problem solving techniques today and avoid relapse tomorrow.
Ready to Quit Marijuana? Learn Coping Skills to Improve Your Odds
Quitting marijuana: What separates those who succeed from those who fail? Learn about the characteristics of successful quit attempts and learn coping strategies to help you succeed in your attempt to break free.
The Importance of Resilience in Addiction Recovery
Resilient people adapt to change and bounce back from adversity – and resilient people are less likely to react to tragedy or great stress with relapse back to substance abuse. If you’re in recovery, resilience can save your life. Read on to learn 8 ways to become a more resilient person.
How to Write a Relapse Prevention Plan
This article describes what a relapse prevention plan is and how to write an effective plan. It includes ideas for what you can include in a simple relapse prevention plan or a detailed recovery plan.
The Four Ds – a Simple Relapse Prevention Strategy
Learn this simple distraction and breathing exercise that works well to get you through periods of intense cravings.
Make a Relapse Drift Chart and Avoid Drifting Toward a Slip-Up
There are certain things you do that keep you sober and certain things that you could do that bring you closer to relapse. To make sure you do more of the former and none of the latter, take 5 minutes and make up a relapse drift chart to put on your fridge and check with once a week.
MAT Tapering - Don't Get Stuck! How to Avoid Common Pitfalls.
If you choose to taper, don't trip-up on common problems - learn how to handle fear, complacency, physical/emotional withdrawal and cravings.
Group Therapy in Drug Treatment
Is there strength in numbers when it comes to addiction therapy? Find out what's behind group therapy in drug treatment.
7 Strategies for Staying Sober Over the Holidays
Worried about how you’ll make it through Thanksgiving? Here are 7 simple suggestions for making sure your holidays don't end in relapse.
Addiction Treatment: Drug Refusal Skills - Why You Need to Re-Learn How to Say NO!
If you’re trying to quit drugs or alcohol you need to re-learn how to say no. It sounds a bit childish, but it’s true and it’s very necessary, which is why most addiction treatment programs teach drug refusal skills as an essential recovery skill to master. Want to learn how to say no like you mean it…read on.
Developing Manageability and Stability to Reduce Stress and Avoid Relapse
There's an adage in self help, "We found the only thing we needed to change was everything." As we adjust to life without drugs and alcohol, we need to develop new habits to guard against our old ones.