Relapse does not ‘just happen’
There are long chains of beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, urges, actions, and social reactions that lead to using alcohol or other drugs after making a serious commitment not to.
Recovering people have the choice – do I use alcohol or other drugs or do I stay abstinent. Many recovering people, however; either are not aware that they have the choice, or else they do not know what they need to do in order to make the choice. As a result, they feel trapped because they can only see the immediate situation that is trapping them. At the moment when they decide to use alcohol or other drugs, they are in a high-risk situation that, in their minds, gives them ‘no choice’ but to use. (T. Gorski, Lecture: The Recovery & Relapse History).
Relapse Prevention Therapy is a psychotherapy process that teaches clients how to identify and manage the core personality and lifestyle problems that cause them to keep putting themselves in high-risk situations. Relapse Prevention Therapy works with identifying and managing core personality and lifestyle problems that can make people so uncomfortable in recovery that using alcohol or other drugs seems like a good idea.
What is the Difference Between Relapse Prevention Therapy and Relapse Prevention Counseling?
The primary focus of Relapse Prevention Counseling is to teach the client how to do something different. The thoughts and feelings that get in the way of doing something different to manage these situations without relapsing are identified and changed. But, unlike Relapse Prevention Therapy, there is no attempt to identify or resolve underlying core issues.
For more information, please call (251)626-5797.
