Some rules of addiction recovery are Golden, they should be taken into account forever instead of forgotten. These are useful and important trail markers to guide us and help us stay always on the right track.

As you define your goals, begin looking for the Golden Rules that connect with it. Chart your course by these Golden Rules and permit them to steer you to achievement and success.

Golden Rules, the 5 best ones for building a social support network.

Golden Rule # 1, you cannot do it on your own. The key reason why you might like to do that is gathering a large and varied support network is crucial. Remember, every time you tried to quit and stay sober alone, it failed. Addiction is a disease of isolation; recovery is about connection with others.

Golden Rule # 2, find and utilize people who are successfully in long term recovery. Follow those are actually doing it not just talking the talk. This might affect you down the road because without friends, isolation can take over. Isolation and boredom are breeding grounds for addiction.  Be sure and remember that there are millions in recovery and you could be one of them if you do what they do.

Golden Rule # 3, try out a few different support groups. 12 step meetings have been found to be very effective. Just about every treatment center recommends them as a foundation of social support. Why? They work. There are various reasons you should do this carefully. It is important because if the first meeting you go to doesn’t suit, you may give up on the entire idea of support groups instead of simply finding one more to your liking

Golden Rule # 4, Make sure that the professional support people on your life such as counselors and doctors know the whole story. Addiction causes changes in our body and mind; do not keep addiction history from them.

Golden Rule # 5, Enlist the support of your family but realize they cannot be your only support. Addiction is a family disease and they may have their own issues to work on such as anger, enabling or codependency. You may accomplish this by opening communication with them and setting some limits and boundaries. You need to work on your issues. They need to work on theirs. They may help but cannot take them on and solve them. This may make a difference to you as it empowers your own recovery and is a method to keep you accountable.

Follow these golden rules to develop a large and varied social support network and you will probably find your life easier, your progress rapid as well as your successes more frequent. Addiction recovery can certainly be done with the aid and support of people around you. Alone, it is next to impossible.

Technorati Tags: addictions, Codependency, substance-abuse, Support group, Twelve-step program

Early alcohol and drug addiction recovery is a wonderful time.

Our thinking clears up, our emotions come on line, the colors are brighter, the food tastes better and life starts to get good.

That is all wonderful. We seem to have regained our old abilities and so much more. To me, the danger in early addiction recovery involves not being aware of the limitations of early sobriety. Generally, people still have a mindset of instant gratification and “I want what I want when I want it”. Things are going great and we think we can take on the world right now. Bring it on.

While this attitude can be exhilarating not knowing one’s limitations in the early phase of addiction recovery can be a setup for disaster. Often in the early recovery stage people take on far more than they are capable of handling. An addictive mindset is to impose an unrealistic time frame on events happening. We want things done quickly. Early recovery is the time to develop stability and recovery skills. Once the foundation as set, we can start to build.

Traditional wisdom says that early recovery is not the time to engage in an intense new relationship, or make huge major life changes.

Continuing care plan of action:

1. Become familiar with H.A.L.T. hungry, angry, lonely, tired. A person in any of these conditions can be very susceptible to addiction relapse. Taking on too much, too quickly is an open invitation to become vulnerable. Constantly monitor your physical, mental, and spiritual condition. Remember very little in life has to be done ‘right now’.

2. Realize that the direction in which you are heading is much more important than the speed with which you are traveling. Slow but steady wins the race. Avoid unrealistic timeframes, self-imposed pressure, and stress.

3. Remember that you are each human being, and as such will make mistakes. That is how we learn and measure progress. On the one hand don’t beat up getting yourself, on the other hand, make sure you are learning the lessons of life.

We hope this was helpful in understanding yet another common drug and alcohol addiction relapse trigger.

Related articles

• You: Stress Can Derail Recovery (psychcentral.com)
• Ignoring stress leads recovering addicts to more cravings (esciencenews.com)

Technorati Tags: Addiction, drug-addiction, early recovery, phases-of-recovery, Relapse Prevention, sobriety

Maintaining sobriety from drug and alcohol use is a proactive process; certain skills and attitudes need to be developed and utilized.

by Bill Urell

There is an old adage that states quitting drug and alcohol use is easy, staying quit is the hard part. I’m not sure if I agree with the easy part, but it is a fact that many people have difficulty maintaining abstinence from drug and alcohol use and suffer a relapse. There are certain attitudes and behaviors that can be developed that will decrease the likelihood of returning to drug and alcohol use.

Here is a list of the top five sobriety tools:

1. Motivation level - maintaining abstinence from mood altering drugs is definitely doable, but in most cases difficult. In order to achieve difficult goals it makes sense that the motivation has to be very high. People who rank their sobriety as a number one priority often have better results than those who put maintaining recovery on their ‘to do’ list. There should be an absolute commitment not to drinker drug ‘no matter what’.

2. Handling cravings - as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, thoughts and cravings of using drugs or alcohol will occur to anyone in recovery. The skill that needs to be developed is to stop these thoughts and cravings from becoming an actual using incident. The good news here is that cravings generally decrease in frequency and intensity over time. It helps to have a concrete plan of action in place prior to the occurrence of the craving for using thought.

3. Coping skills - often people in early recovery rely on coping skills that were developed to protect their drug and alcohol abuse. This might include becoming isolated and pushing people away, becoming dishonest in cheating, or becoming self-centered in the extreme. In other cases coping skills are either undeveloped, or underutilized. Some examples of life skills that may need some work are the ability to communicate, basic social skills, knowing how to develop and maintain interpersonal or intimate relationships.

4. Identifying, owning, and processing emotions - there is often stated rule in relapse prevention that advises people in recovery to avoid “people, places, and things” that could be dangerous to the recovery. In reality, is may not be the situations or triggers that are more dangerous, but our rather our inability to handle the emotions that these things generate. Our actions are often generated by our feelings.

5. Self-esteem and self-confidence - if a person does not have the self-confidence in their ability to remain abstinent, certainly undercuts the motivation to keep working at it. If a person does not start feeling better about themselves in recovery and gain self-esteem, then the idea of returning to drug and alcohol use can become very attractive. There needs to be some internal reward for going through all the effort of maintaining sobriety.

Relapse back into drug and alcohol use happens with alarming frequency for great number of people. It is therefore only prudent to develop plans that decrease the possibility of relapse. However, relapse not a part of the recovery process, many people stopped using drugs in our overall never to return to it. In my experience, however, these people have put a great deal of proactive planning into use. They have made recovery their number one priority and have been ferocious in their commitment.

Technorati Tags: Addiction, Addiction-Treatment, relapse, Relapse Prevention

Concerning drug and alcohol relapse and its prevention there is a good news, bad news, scenario. Here are three important points that everyone should be aware of:

1. Relapse is not uncommon following drug and alcohol addiction treatment.

The frequency with which relapse can occur following treatment is the bad news, the good news is relapse need not be a part of anyone’s addiction recovery. It is not mandatory that you have one or two slips or a full-blown relapse in order to achieve lasting abstinence and sobriety. However, relapse happens with her frequency that cannot and should not be ignored. Provisions should always be made for an action plan if relapse does occur.

2. [Tag-tec}Relapse[/tag-tec] is most certainly preventable.

It can be arguably stated that the most common cause of relapse is complacency. It is very important for someone in recovery to be monitoring their thoughts, feelings, urges, and actions at all times. It has been shown that being active in a 12 step program, and/or extended professional treatment at some level increases positive outcomes, and helps against relapse. Both sobriety and addiction treatment should be seen as an ongoing process and not an event with a definitive beginning and end. You never quite graduate.

3. Relapse is fairly predictable.

That statement may come as a surprise to some people. However, there are distinct signs and symptoms of one who is engaged in the relapse process. Unfortunately, the early stages of relapse are not noticeable to the person in recovery themselves, but they are apparent to those surrounding them. In easily remembered danger gauge is the acronym H.A.L.T. this stands for being hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. On a professional level, work should be done in identifying patients’ individual external relapse triggers and cues, as well as emotional triggers. It can be a little more complex than simply avoiding “people, places, and things”.

Technorati Tags: alcohol relapse, drug relapse, relapse, Relapse Prevention

I have been working on a project not directly related to addiction, but thought these free reports may be of interest to some. No obligation. Not even an email opt-in.

One of the great things about being your own boss is making fun proclamations and doing what you want. So as the official boss I declare “Guest Appreciation Day”. To celebrate you, We offer some relationship help, if you need it:

1. Mending A Broken Heart and, 2. Learning To Love Yourself.

Here is the download link:
Claim My Free Reports

PS – (Don’t worry about the join the newsletter part, that is for people arriving from elsewhere)

HALT video covers those frequently discussed relapse triggers of hunger, anger, loneliness and being tired.

We hope this relapse prevention video helped.

Technorati Tags: relapse, Relapse Prevention, relapse prevention video, relapse triggers, Video Humor

“There is no mental defense against the first drinker drug”. I don’t buy it and here is why:

The idea that there is no mental defense against the first drink or drug, can lead one to believe that relapse is inevitable and addiction recovery is impossible. We might as well stand around doing nothing waiting for relapse to happen. That’s silly. Millions of people enjoy continued addiction recovery without a relapse. In fact, a well designed relapse prevention plan can increase your chances of continued sobriety dramatically.

In discussing relapse prevention and drug and alcohol relapse itself, it is very important to make two distinctions:

Firstly, relapse process is not an event. It involves the thinking processes, feelings, urge is in cravings, as well as the drug and alcohol seeking, that precede the actual use.

Secondly,

relapse prevention deals with all that happens, (the process) before the drink or drug is actually taken. Once you are actually drinking and drugging, you are in a using episode. The tools and study of relapse prevention are designed to deal with all that proceeds the action prior to the using the event

Relapse Prevention involves identifying your early warning signs of relapse and having a plan in place to interrupt the process. In other words, relapse is simply not going to strike one down without reason or warning like a mugger attacking in the night.

It is your job to self monitor your own relapse justifications, whether they are thoughts, feelings, or post acute withdrawal symptoms. You must have an early warning detection system in place, effective strategies to cope with them, and a willingness and ability to act on them.

I believe it is imperative for everyone, regardless of how well their addiction recovery is going, to have in place and effect if relapse prevention plan.

Technorati Tags: Relapse Prevention

This simple but powerful relapse prevention tool requires just a bit of preparation.

Write yourself a letter that details the positive experiences you’ve had in recovery. Take a look at how your relationships have improved, whether you’re self-esteem is improved, and your physical and mental health. Detail your goals visions and dreams. Be positive and upbeat. Now, take that letter put it in an envelope and write the following on the envelope, “open in case of emergency”.

The next time you have an urge or craving to return to use open that letter and read it carefully. Think about what returning to drug and alcohol use really means, play that tape forward. Realize that you’re not really thinking about using drugs or alcohol once, but returning to a life full of pain and misery. Weigh your decision, because the power of choice is yours.

Don’t be afraid to break the seal on that letter in case of need, because after all, when you are done reading it you can always put it into another envelope and readdress to yourself.

Technorati Tags: Relapse Prevention

I apologize for the infrequent updates over the last few days.

I have been attending a week long seminar to get certified in Advanced Relapse Prevention Therapy. At the same time my landlord decided to switch internet providers and we are without internet connection for a few days awaiting a modem. I am commandeering a terminal for 15 minutes at a Marriot Courtyard, so I can only give a quick update.

One of the most important parts about being in addiction recovery is learning how to prevent relapse. My certification will allow be to share some cutting edge information with you on relapse prevenrtion as soon as I get back up and running. My best regards,

Bill

Technorati Tags: Relapse Prevention

There has been mention of recovery coaches or sobriety coaches in the press recently, particularly for people of means and affluence.

I think the idea of having a recovery coach has a certain appeal, a nice ring to it. What exactly do they do? What don’t they do? Oddly enough, I found it easier to locate information on what they don’t do. This information (disclaimer?) was taken from one of the more credible sites I found:

1.    We cannot diagnose any addiction.

2.    We don’t treat addiction per se.

3.    We can help someone become ready and willing to seek treatment.

4.    We can help someone explore their options for recovery or treatment.

5.    We know we aren’t chemical dependency counselors. We know we aren’t nurses, doctors, counselors, therapists, or psychiatrists.

6.    We are coaches and what we do is coach. We help people explore their wants, needs, and choices. We help them get clarity and move into action.

7.    We don’t dictate what recovery will look like for our clients.

8.    We don’t tell them what to do or how to do it.

To be honest, the idea of recovery coaches scares me. Let’s see, if I needed help would I really want a person who is not qualified to diagnose and treat me? There are some real questions and considerations when considering sobriety coaches:

1. Coaches are not regulated, certified and do not have to meet any educational requirements.

2. Anyone, qualified or not can call themselves a recovery coach.

3. There is no standardized code of ethics and standards.
If that sounds harsh, (I am expressing a point of view), but hear me out…

I am a state certified addictions therapist with a master’s level education. To reach that level of qualification requires years of specialized addiction education and many 100’s of hours of practical experience in dealing with patients. I am bound by a professional code of behavior and ethics.

With the very real threat of relapse looming large for anyone in recovery, I strongly suggest getting qualified help. I emphasize qualified help. To be fair, I have come across some recovery coaches who are educationally qualified and are state certified counselors also.

There are also many unqualified people in the field, and working with them could not only be a mistake, it could be dangerous.

Technorati Tags: Addiction, recovery, recovery coach

Relapse is not an individual occurrence or event. Relapse is a process, a fluid progression of ideas and events that enable the concept of being unable to deal with life in sobriety. The relapse process may lead to a return to drug and alcohol use, emotional or physical collapse, death or suicide. The process is identified by tangible, predictable and identifiable relapse warning signs that begin quite some time before a return to use or collapse occurs. Relapse prevention planning teaches people to identify and  create plans to manage these symptoms and signs. The goal is to interrupt the progression early in the process and return to the path of recovery.

Relapse, most certainly does not have to be a part of recovery, there are those who do not return to drinking or drugging. Studies of life-long patterns of recovery and relapse indicate that not all patients relapse. Approximately one third achieve permanent abstinence from their first serious attempt at recovery. Another third have a period of brief relapse episodes but eventually achieve long-term abstinence. An additional one third have chronic relapses that result in eventual death from chemical addiction.

These statistics are consistent with the life-long recovery rates of any chronic lifestyle-related illness. About half of all relapse-prone people eventually achieve permanent abstinence. Many others lead healthier, more stable lives despite periodic relapse episodes. Click here for: tips for recovery.

Technorati Tags: relapse, Relapse Prevention

No one in recovery wants to have a drug and alcohol relapse. But if it occurs, would you know what to do? These tips on how to survive a relapse may help avoid a lot of unnecessary pain.

Due to the frequency with which they occur, knowing what to do in the event of a relapse is an essential part of a relapse prevention plan.

First things first; don’t let guilt and shame paralyze you into inaction because you have had a slip or relapse. Unfortunately, in recovery, as in life, pain can be a valuable learning experience. The trick is to use the experience to get back into recovery and emerge from the experience even stronger.

Here are 5 tips to help you turn it around:

1. Don’t give in to despair. It is an attractive rationalization to believe that you have just proved you can’t do this. If you believe you can’t do something, what’s the point in trying? Go down that road and you’re off to the races.

2. Stop using. You are not a failure and hopeless; that is shame speaking. You are human, and as such we make mistakes. Don’t give into the idea that because you had a slip, you may as well go whole hog.

3. Get help immediately. Yes, that means telling someone you had a relapse and need help to stop now. Trying to keep it a secret will only increase the negative feelings generated.

4. Figure out what went wrong. Relapse just did not sneak up on you. It happened because of your action in wanting to use or your inaction of sticking to your recovery plan. Outside help of a counselor, sponsor or someone in long term recovery is needed to give an outside perspective.

5. Restart your recovery with overwhelming force. Become proactive in your recovery; apply even greater effort and priority to it. Apply overwhelming force, take what you think you need and double it. One key shared by people in long term recovery the idea that ‘I cannot drink or drug no matter what’. Adopt a ‘no matter what’ mentality.

And that is the tip of the iceberg on the subject of relapse prevention in drug and alcohol recovery. There is even more information available on what to do in case of a relapse on alcohol or drugs.

Technorati Tags: alcohol relapse, drug relapse, relapse

Are you aware of the dangers of a drug or alcohol relapse and 3 key concepts that can help prevent it? The answers are revealed here.

A very common reason drug and alcohol relapses happen so frequently is that there is no relapse prevention plan in place.

1. Maintain awareness of addiction.

Complacency sets the stage for more relapses than any other factor. With a lowered level of awareness the door is open for a return of denial. Examples are “ I’m doing great now, no problem”, “It wasn’t as bad as everyone made out”, “ I’ve been good for so long, I deserve just one”. If denial creeps in, the door is open to rationalizing a return to use, as well as, engaging in risky behaviors. Risky behaviors increase the chance of relapse.

2. Identify your high-risk factors and triggers.

A trigger or high risk factor for relapsecan be anything that was associated with drug or alcohol use and brings back those memories. It can be a person, place or thing, as well as things like rituals, smells or sounds. Some examples might be the smell of stale beer, seeing your dealer, or getting very emotional.

Basically there are 2 types of risk factors, those that can be easily avoided, and those that cannot. If a situation is known to be risky and can be avoided, do so.

On the other hand there are situations that cannot be avoided. Just about every supermarket has a beer and wine aisle, there may be events where alcohol is served and your attendance is required. In these cases, forethought and relapse planning is needed.

3. Have plans in place before the temptation.

Awareness is an extremely powerful relapse prevention plan and tool It is suggested to identify situations that can be avoided ahead of time, make a list. For example: it is not a good idea to hang out in a bar drinking soda, or to continue to hang out with people you used to use with. Identify these dangerous situations and plan to minimize exposure to them.

The same planning concept applies to possibly dangerous situations that may be unforeseen or unavoidable. For example: you have to shop for groceries, but can avoid going down the alcohol aisle. You can go to a wedding, perhaps go with a non drinker, request ginger ale for the toast, etc.

And we have just exposed the tip of the iceberg when it comes to [tag-self]relapse prevention]/tag-self].

Here are some more great articles:

Relapse Prevention Plan: 3 Key Planning Concepts To Help Prevent A … – Are you aware of the dangers of a drug or alcohol relapse and 3 key concepts that can help prevent it… ShareThis.

Relapse Prevention in Dual Diagnosis Drug Rehab – However, it really helps to take a look at relapse as a part of a bigger picture. Relapse prevention is best done with a wide angle lens. Addiction Isnt Cured Its Managed. Some conditions can be cured with the right treatment. …

Relapse Prevention: Are You Clear on These Key Concepts of Drug … – By Bill Urell Knowledge of relapse and relapse prevention concepts is a critical piece of the recovery picture… ShareThis.

Broadening our treatment systems: Offering self-directed relapse … – Based upon a model that has been successfully used in smoking relapse prevention (Brandon et al., 2000), we designed a series of relapse prevention booklets to send to people through the mail about once per month. …

A Relapse is No Accident – Mr. Gorski is well known in addiction treatment circles for his work in relapse prevention. His company, CENAPS Corporation, was in the early stages of certifying Sunshine Coast Health Center as a Center of Excellence for relapse …

Relapse Prevention – Relapse Prevention. By: Louisa Latela, MSW, LCSW. Printer Friendly Version Printer Friendly. Relapse Prevention. Breathe!!! Make it a habit to become conscious of your breathing. Most times when people are overeating they are not taking …

Technorati Tags: drug relapse, relapse, Relapse Prevention

Do you know practical strategies for drug and alcohol relapse prevention? After reading this article, you will have some concrete strategies to utilize.

Drug and alcohol relapse is a fact of life for many people in addiction recovery. Relapse prevention is the strategy to interrupt the process before return to use occurs.

Though figures vary, the fact is that the majority of addicted people who try to quit using alcohol and drugs do not do so on the first attempt, they slip or relapse. Relapse is not inevitable, but rather frequent.

Here are 5 solid strategies to counteract common causes or mind sets that are dangerous to a person’s addiction recovery:

1. Decrease stress - Find coping strategies to handle the tremendous stress of being in recovery and facing life. The more stress that is unresolved, the more attractive a return to drinking or drugging may become to handle it.

2. Work on loneliness and isolation – Addiction is a disease of isolation, addiction recovery involves reconnecting with people. A critical part of building a solid recovery is to establish a sober social support network. Part of the joy of recovery is establishing new and meaningful relationships.

3. Find meaningful purpose – Perhaps it is time to look at a new job or career, go back to school (at any age), or do some volunteer work. At some point, simply not drinking or drugging becomes old. The solution is to be active in a fulfilling purpose. If that is occurring the idea of returning to use is almost ludicrous.

4. Work on relationships – In most cases, saying ‘I’m sorry’ is not enough. The number one strategy to heal relationships is to stay sober. Action counts, not words. One truth of addiction is that the addict greatly underestimates the pain and damage their use has caused in relationships. Addiction is called a family disease, counseling should be considered for all involved.

5. Counteract the return of denial – A common phase in the relapse process is the return of justification or rationalization that a return to using drugs or alcohol is OK. Common examples are fondly remembering only the good times had when using, thinking ‘I wasn’t that bad’, or ‘Just one won’t hurt. Lastly, the most dangerous enemy is the most insidious and least obvious: complacency, easing off on the activities of active recovery.

One way to visualize the relapse and recovery process is to picture a swing in motion. You are either swinging away from recovery and moving toward relapse, or moving back the other way moving away from relapse into recovery. You are never standing still. Just saying no is not enough; recovery is a program of positive growth and most importantly, action.

Technorati Tags: relapse, Relapse Prevention

By Bill Urell

Knowledge of relapse and relapse prevention concepts is a critical piece of the recovery picture. What you don’t know can kill you.

Part of the definition of addiction to alcohol and drugs includes the fact that it is a relapsing disease. That means that while it is not necessarily a fact that all people will relapse, it does happen with a frequency that cannot and should not be ignored. But what is relapse, or the relapse process?

As a start let’s look at the difference between abstinence and being in recovery.

Abstinence: Being abstinent means to stop taking all mood altering chemicals completely. A person who just stops using and nothing else is abstinent.

Recovery: Being in recovery means that a person has engaged in a process or program of rehabilitation that starts with abstinence and involves identifying and  changing thoughts, feelings, and actions, which results in major lifestyle and value changes.

Relapse warning signs: There are many identifiable red flags and warning signs. A good indicator is becoming restless, irritable and discontent. When that state exists, thoughts, feelings, and actions can be triggered by a situation or condition that lead can lead to alcohol or drug use. For example: passing by your favorite bar may trigger thoughts of drinking, these can lead to justification, such as, I’ll just stop in for one.

Relapse process: A series of internal thoughts or feelings and outside events after starting a recovery program that can cause a person to return to using alcohol or drugs. In other words, it is the gradual return of old attitudes and behaviors that occur in the time before picking up the drink or drug, not afterwards.

Relapse justification: This is the rationalization or creation of thoughts that make it seem okay to return to using alcohol or drugs after starting a recovery program. For example: I wasn’t really that bad, or I’ve feeling so much better, surely just one or two couldn’t hurt.

 Relapse prevention: This process that helps a person to identify relapse triggers and change thoughts, feelings, and actions that have the potential to lead back to active alcohol and drug use. Counseling or a 12 step program can be of tremendous help with this essential component of recovery.

And there are many more aspects to relapse prevention aside from simple definitions. We have assembled some very detailed information for your use:

And now I would like to invite you to explore even more detailed information on relapse prevention. You may also claim our Free, 5 part mini-course titled " 5 mistakes People Commonly Make In Recovery And How To Avoid Them". To gain instant access, visit us at: http://TheRecoveryClub.com

Thank you from Bill Urell and the Addiction Recovery Basics Network.