You learn so much while attending a professional rehabilitation program. From gaining coping mechanisms to understanding your triggers, rehab can provide numerous tools you need in order to successfully beat addiction. However, one of the biggest worries people have when their program nears an end is how to transition successfully from the relative safety of inpatient rehab back into their regular lives. The temptation to use again can be intimidating. Making extra efforts to gain support through relapse prevention activities is one way to increase your confidence in making choices that are good for you in our women’s addiction treatment programs.
Relapse refers to returning to using drugs or alcohol after being clean and sober for a period. This time without using is usually an intentional one and self-imposed. Sliding back into old habits is, unfortunately, all too common.
However, it’s not necessarily an inevitability, and you can avoid falling into the trap with some purposeful planning and education.
Relapse may seem to come on suddenly and out of nowhere, but there’s often a progression that precedes it.
First is usually a triggering event or events that can lead someone to begin their fall. This can be an interpersonal or social situation, or even a memory or emotion that occurs during a particular circumstance. Whatever this stimulus may be, it sets into motion a series of events. This series can lead to the individual engaging in the use of an addictive substance.
The trigger causes the person to want to reach for his or her vice. Soon, the person will begin to dwell on or obsess over this desire and may begin to insert himself or herself into situations in which it’s easy to access drugs or alcohol.
This culmination of events often ends with the individual using again, as has become the go-to pattern in the past. It’s a difficult cycle to break, particularly without relapse support and tools in place. Relapse prevention training can help you to learn defense strategies and coping mechanism for dealing with these triggers, along with tools to help you recognize them in the first place.
Relapse prevention begins during the beginning of your rehab program. The therapy you undergo, skills you learn and support you receive all play a role in helping you to resist the temptation to indulge in your addiction.
However, substance abuse can take a strong hold over a person, seeping into your very being. You don’t develop an addiction overnight, so it stands to reason that it will take a great deal of time and dedication to overcome your dependence on drugs or alcohol.
Programs that focus on preventing relapse include extended care, aftercare program, sober living, and our Soledad House Alumni Program. These types of programs provide you with a solid foundation to your recovery. Additionally, they add a buffer before you step back into the real world. You gain extra time to build skills such as strong communication, trigger awareness, conflict management and self-awareness.
Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from others and to build a solid support network you can lean on during times when you feel alone. This is key to maintaining sobriety. This added time will also help to cement your newfound skills, giving you an adequate opportunity to practice them and to ensure you feel comfortable using them in your day-to-day life.
A critical component of a quality rehabilitation program is relapse prevention and learning how to prevent relapse. Here at Soledad House, we want you to move forward with the most addiction recovery resources at your disposal. You don’t have to battle addiction on your own. Call us today at 866.314.3222 to begin your journey to wellness.
These therapies help our women achieve and maintain recovery. For more tips on navigating recovery or to learn more and begin your journey to sobriety, give Soledad House a call at 866.314.3222.
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