Relapse Prevention in Perth Amboy, NJ

Relapse prevention in Perth Amboy gives recovered addicts the coping mechanisms they need to identify and address the stages of relapse so that they can maintain sobriety.

Recovering from drug addiction is no different from dealing with a chronic disease, it takes a lifetime. The first stage of recovery, sobriety, can often be achieved in just a few weeks, but maintaining sobriety is something that requires continued devotion to avoid relapse. Relapse prevention, as it is usually called, is the single most important aspect of dealing with addiction because it lasts for a recovered addict's entire life.

What Is Relapse?

We tend to think of relapse as an isolated event, but psychologists have recognized that relapse is a complex process with multiple opportunities for intervention. Most people don't realize that the process of relapse can begin weeks or even months before substance abuse begins. Professionals in relapse prevention in Perth Amboy help to prepare addicts and their loved ones to recognize the stages of relapse so that intervention can begin before the situation spirals out of control.

It is important to think about relapse prevention treatment in the context of how life events might precipitate crisis situations and how effective or ineffective coping responses can determine how likely a relapse is. An addict in a high-risk emotional situation may cope with that situation effectively, which leads to increased self-sufficiency and a decrease in the probability of relapse. Ineffective coping in the same situation, however, can lead to feelings of failure and guilt. If left unchecked, these feelings can lead to a lapse and substance use.

Our treatment programs in Perth Amboy aim to create this self-sufficiency for the addict. A single lapse may then lead to a phenomenon known as the abstinence violation effect and increased probability of continued substance abuse and thus relapse.

Relapse Prevention Programs: Tools for Preventing Relapse

The abstinence violation effect is a powerful component of relapse. There is a significant difference between an initial lapse and subsequent uncontrolled substance abuse. After a single lapse, it is critical for addicts to be able to access the help that they need from family, friends, sobriety buddies, and drug relapse prevention programs if they are to overcome this powerful effect. The importance of a stay in our inpatient rehab in Perth Amboy is to minimize the risks by removing the patient from any possibility of relapsing.

People who attribute an initial lapse personal failure are most likely to experience negative emotions that can lead to increased drinking as a further attempt to avoid or escape the feelings of guilt or failure caused by the initial lapse. It is important that individuals do not attribute their lapse to internal factors beyond their control, such as a lack of willpower, but rather understand it is simply a consequence of the addiction disease process.

Dealing with a single lapse effectively is the most important component of preventing full relapse. Relapse prevention in Perth Amboy focuses on giving individuals the tools they need to identify a lapse and deal with it effectively. Examples of common relapse prevention tools include:

12-Step Programs

12-step programs, like AA and NA, are time-tested programs that bring addicts together to support one another as they work to achieve and maintain sobriety. These programs generally focus on admitting to addiction and the fact that addiction causes permanent damage. 12-step programs can be highly effective for individuals who identify with their principles and commit to carrying them out. 12-step programs are really about separating addicts from their addiction and giving perspective that allows them to recover not just in the physical sense, but emotionally and socially as well.

Avoidance

Believe it or not, avoidance is an effective way to manage drug relapse prevention. Avoidance consists not just of avoiding the substance itself, but of avoiding individuals and situations associated with the substance. This means keeping distance from places like bars and clubs or homes of friends and family who use. Under no circumstances should an addict maintain contact with anyone who abuses drugs or alcohol, even if they use a different substance than what the addict is used to.

As part of avoidance, it is important that addicts substitute old habits with new, healthy habits. This includes focusing on health, finances, relationships, and supportive friends and family. Simply avoiding a situation is often not enough, it is necessary to replace the negative with the positive.

Other Tools

The above are just examples of relapse prevention strategies. In truth, there are an unlimited number of strategies that work and what works for one person may or may not work for the next. What is important, however, is that every addict has a plan for dealing with temptation, lapse, and relapse. It isn't enough to say that it will be dealt with; there must be a concrete plan. Relapse prevention in Perth Amboy helps addicts to develop a plan that works for them and put it into action.

Relapse Prevention Aftercare Services

Because drug relapse prevention is so critical to long-term sobriety, there are many different organizations available to help addicts. Immediately following recovery, halfway houses, sober-living homes, and intensive outpatient counseling are most useful. As an addict moves further along in his or her sobriety, relapse prevention aftercare make take the form of AA/NA meetings, sobriety buddies, outpatient counseling, avoidance regimens, and more.

Relapse prevention in Perth Amboy can help recovering addicts find the aftercare resources they need to maintain sobriety. It is important for recovering addicts to see these organizations as tools for maintaining sobriety and not as burdens to simply endure.

Everyone should remember that sobriety is a life-long commitment. Call us today at (877) 804-1531 to learn more about our treatment options.