Five Areas To Work On

A relapse prevention plan requires concrete life goals in five areas with tasks and timelines identified
Relationships
Work and school
Home and community
Physical health, mental health and spiritual health
Communication
You have or will before you leave a drug or alcohol rehab developed your goals in each of the above areas. If you haven’t completed this before you leave rehab you certainly have to do it first thing out.

Setting Boundaries
The skill of setting and maintaining boundaries is essential to relapse prevention
You will have completed your boundary setting inventory and plan before you leave any drug or alcohol rehab treatment center. It is impossible to have a healthy relationship with someone who has no boundaries, with someone who cannot communicate directly and honestly. Learning how to set boundaries is a necessary step in learning to be a friend to yourself. It is your responsibility to take care of yourself - to protect yourself when it is necessary. It is impossible to learn to take care of yourself without owning yourself, and owning your rights and responsibilities as creator of your life.

Physical Boundaries Set A Border Or Limit

Physical boundaries control when and how others approach you, behave in your home
I will not allow a hug from someone I do not like
I will not allow drugs or alcohol in my home
I will lock the door on my bedroom when I need to be alone
I will not allow smoking in my home or in the presence of my children
I will not allow drinking in my car
What physical boundary could you set to keep you safe when you go home? It is by setting clear physical boundries before you leave rehab so you won’t have to decide in advance what places are safe for you. If you haven’t decided this in advance it is far more likely to find yourself in a situation that will lead you in the wrong direction. Also by deciding in advance you can role play responses to people that try to “convince” you to do something you are not sure of. Again it would be wise if you practiced this before you left drug rehab. If not, do it immediately as soon as you leave rehab otherwise the chances of relapse are far greater.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 24th, 2005 at 9:13 am 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.