Improving the outcome for yourself following treatment in any drug or alcohol rehab is assured by improving your skills in managing the issues that research shows lead to relapse:

Response to stress and to feelings of anxiety, fear, anger, frustration or depression

Interpersonal conflicts

Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention is a process of using and developing skills, attitude, beliefs and values that support you to achieve your life goals.
Relapse prevention is first and foremost about taking the time and thought to make a clear commitment to how you truly want your life to be.
For some reading this column, the first step has not yet been taken toward relapse prevention.

The first step is deciding that continuing use is not your goal
Step one is committing to a life that is self care centered.
Turn to someone you know and trust and say the following out loud:
I am committed to caring for myself because I care deeply about myself and achieving excellent physical and emotional health is my first goal.Using my physical and mental health to the best advantage for myself and those I care about is my second goal.
How did that feel?

State Your Commitment

Take five minutes and write down your own commitment in your own words and why you want this above anything else in the world. Save your commitment statement and work on it occasionally over the next week. This statement will be the foundation of your relapse prevention plan. Why not make a commitment that the last relapse you had before you entered rehab will be you last relapse ever. Everyone who quits using alcohol or stops drug abuse has a final relapse. Why not make you last one the VERY last one? There are lots of techniques to keep yourself safe. This commitment statement is the “why” or reason for doing these techniques. As part of any exit treatment plan on leaving a rehab, it would be wise to do this commitment statement. Make the steps neccessary to make your last relapse your very last one and you last rehab, your very last visit to drug rehab.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 23rd, 2005 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.