In a drug rehab center stopping drug and alcohol use may seem like stating the obvious.  Sometimes though it is very important to state the obvious clearly and with emphasis, in public to gain the support of those around you.  First a clear definition of what sobriety means to you and how you define it is important in your relapse prevention plan.  However as strage as it may seem, sobriety is not your main goal, having a great and full life is your main goal.

Sobriety is the RESULT of other goals.  A clear commitment statement in a relapse prevention plans should list off of the main goals you are focusing towards in the next one to two years.  Going back to school, getting fulfilling employment are examples.  Timelines and steps to completion of these goals can be included.  Why not get those around you in drug rehab to sign your commitment statement and ask them to contact you down the road to see if you are following your plan.

Your commitment statement must also have compelling reasons why these goals are important to you and to your sobriety.  It is the reasons why you are going to do this, that will make your relapse prevention plan powerful and effective.  This proof or evidence can be both positive and negative.  A compelling reason can be NOT wanting to repeating a behavior you have done in the past.  Not wanting to go back to jail, or go back to a drug rehab is a good reason.

Again it is evident that a clear commitment statement in a relapse prevention plan requires work.  You cannot do it adequately in an hour.  If you spend the time to find truely compelling reasons to stop drug and alcohol abuse while you are in drug rehab, you will stand a much greater chance at sobriety when you depart a drug rehab.

After your drug rehab program, control of stress will be the focus. Poor communications and inadequte communication skills are a large source of stress in anyone's life.  As part of a good Relapse Prevention Plan you might want to consider a communication skills inventory.  What areas of your life do you have great and outstanding skills?  What areas of your life are you just adequate?  Where are the spots that really need improvement?

After you have created of list of the areas you require improvement, rank them in order of importance to your sobriety.  Drug refusal skills are of paramount importance.  Develope a plan to acquire the skills you need with a timeline for support and mastery.  Make it clear and concise and add it to your Relapse Prevention Plan.

Poor boundaries can and will cause stress in your life.  Stress leads to relapse.  So working on and building adequate and well defined boundaries are essential to long term relapse prevention.  Most clients arrive at a drug rehab center with very poorly defined boundaries.  It is because of such vague and undetermined boundaries that most drug and alcohol rehabs have such strict rules about forming relationships while attending drug rehab.

There are 4 main areas in which to set boundaries in your life.

1) Physical - involves keeping yourself safe from physical harm

2) Emotional

3) Intellectual

4)Spiritual

All these areas require specific guidelines for safety.  A simple way to start is to look at all the ways in your past relationships you have not protected and cherished these four areas.  Have you been in any relationships where several if not all of these were damaged?  Boundary work requires time, effort and planning.  Simply saying it will not happen again is not enough.

In any relapse prevention plan a discussion of the control of stress should mostly likely be considered first.  Uncontroled stress is the number one cause of relapse and a return to drug and alcohol abuse.  Controling stress in and after drug rehab involves two main steps.  One is a stress inventory.  This involves looking at all the stressors in your life and how you react to them. 

The type and cause of the stress are important here.  Looking at how you currently deal with this particular stress.  When are you able to control it?  When does it control you?  Is it gradually increasing in your life?  Go through this process with all the stressors in your life. Here is it of value to take more than one or two days to think about these.  Do not try to do this exercise in one sitting.  It is also very useful to keep using the phrase "What Else?" every time you are able to answer one of the above questions.  Do not settle for a single answer of a phrase.  Most stressors are complicated and multi-factorial in nature.

Once you have listed all of the main stressors in your life you can start to come up with plans to deal with them.  Again this is where attending a drug rehab is a large benefit.  The ability to ask others for input who are in the same situation is always a great gift.  Your plans are usually going to concentrate on two areas.  The first is increasing you body's ability to handle stress.  Exercise and mediation are two of the most effective here.  The second are specific methods and techniques of dealing with each stress.  This may involve looking at your patterns of thinking and adjusting them.  It may also involve methods of improved communication.  It may also involve somethingas simmple as deciding a particular activity in your life is simply not worth the stress involved.

Dealing with stress in a relapse prevention plan is key to your success in drug rehab and sobriety.  Take the time to give it the attention it needs.

If after drug rehab, you are truly going to move past drug addiction and abuse you would be wise to have a detailed relapse prevention plan and checklist.  In this list there would be plans and goals in the following areas.

1)  Stress inventory and strategies for coping and improvement.

2)  Boundaries

3)  Guilt and Shame inventory with strategies

4)  Communications skills inventory with goals and plans for improvement

5)  Clear Commitment statement about future drug and alcohol use

6)  Support Network

7)  Management plan for dealing with drug and alcohol cues

8)  Exercise and relaxation plans

9)  Building your resume

10) Detailed plans for your daily activities for the next few months

As you can see a quality relapse prevention plan is not something that can be created on the plane ride home from a drug and alcohol rehab center.  It is almost started on your first day of drug rehab and finalized in the last week of drug rehab.  Over the next few days we will go through each of these areas so that you can build your own relapse prevention plan and move past addiction for yourself today.

Looking for non 12 step based solutions?  Here is a very good one to consider.  Your Empowering Solutions or YES for short offers insights and help for those who do not wish to feel powerless against their addiction.  They use several modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy.  Lots of information and advice.  They do outpatient and  interventions as well.  Looking for a possible solution to your addiction, have a look at this.  www.non12step.com

One of the most important and critical steps in a drug and alcohol rehab center is to connect with what you really want to do, in your life.  This may seem like a huge and unimaginable step when you life is basically out of control.  It is though, something that you really may want to take the time to do.  The reason is really quite simple.  One of the main ways to change behavior is to find a new connection to the day to day effort required to practice and learn new life skills. 

If something is a stepping stone to a greater and better purpose, it becomes so much easier to stay focused.  It becomes the reason to stay and continue.  It becomes the reason to rebuild relationships.  It become the main reason to change.  It is also the reason why sobriety will be more exciting and fun then drugs ever were.

How is this for a good question. If you knew you could not fail, what would you attempt?  It is a question I have heard from many famous speakers.  There is a good reason for this.  This question cuts through all mental "but ifs" or "if only's".  You can ask this question over and over.  Do not give up with a sort of good idea.  Continue until the answer you come up with excites you to your very core.  It is the connection back to reality that will make all the difference in your quest for sobriety.

Drug and alcohol rehab is a very popular topic on the internet these days.  Ever wonder EXACTLY what people are searching for?  The facts may surprise you. When people type in the term "Addiction", what are the most common words that accompany it?  I personally was surprised to find out that the word drug was only the second most popular search.  The most common search on the internet related to addiction is one concerned with video games.  I was truly SHOCKED by the third most common search.  It wasn't cocaine addiction, it wasn't alcohol addiction, or even crack addiction.  It was the drug Ultram.  This drug is not supposed to be addictive.  It is supposed to be a safe narcotic substitute.  Obviously a lot of people either are haveing trouble with this drug, or are at least concerned about it.  If you are at all interested in knowing about what people are searching on the internet for in drug rehab and addiction, CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.  It is truly very interesting and enlightening.

So many times when someone phones to ask about drug and alcohol rehab they are completely distraught.  They are looking for a place to help their kids.  Often upon listening to the events that played out, the parent has only recently become aware of the drug use and are totally unprepared for the extent.  Ever wonder if your kids are using illicit drugs?  Apparently you can find out by sending away a sample of hair.  Click here for the full details.