Relapse Prevention
Feelings, people, or situations that cause us to want to use.
Triggers
Share one of your triggers.
Someone who helps guide a newcomer through the 12 steps.
A Sponsor
Do you have a sponsor? If so, share your experience. If not, what's holding you back?
The basic text for Alcoholics Anonymous.
The Big Book
What's your favorite piece of literature or passage?
A mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Mindfulness
How do you practice mindfulness?
Feelings of sadness and loss of interest.
Depression
How do you cope with feeling depressed?
A state of mind characterized by being too comfortable in your recovery and not feeling motivated to do the work.
Complacency
How can you avoid complacency?
A powerful desire to use.
Urge
Share about the last time you experienced an urge.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
Serenity Prayer
How can you use the serenity prayer?
Doing or thinking about something different when you feel yourself being triggered to use substances.
Distraction / Opposite of Emotion
When have you used this coping skill?
Experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness.
Anxiety
How do you cope with anxiety?
Refusing to admit the truth about addiction and its consequences to ourselves.
Denial
Where do you think you have been/could be in denial?
Symptoms you experience several weeks or months after you have finished detoxing that are related to the body healing from substance use.
Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)
What PAWS symptoms have you experienced? Difficulty concentrating, irritability, anxiety, depression...
Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 9
What does making amends mean to you?
The practice of doing something for yourself, especially in stressful times.
Self-Care
What do you do for self-care?
A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.
Shame
Do you struggle with shame?
Identifying and writing down triggers, coping skills, people, and activities to help you stay sober.
Relapse Prevention Plan
Do you have a relapse prevention plan?
A common phrase in AA/NA that represents the importance of staying in the present.
"One Day at a Time"
What does this mean to you?
"We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."
Step 4
What scares you about step 4?
Getting support from a neutral person who can help with mental health and addiction.
Therapy
What's your opinion on therapy? Has it changed over time?
A moral emotion that occurs when a person believes or realizes—accurately or not—that they have compromised their own standards of conduct.
Guilt
What do you experience guilt about?
Convincing yourself that it's okay or that you have to use substances/engage in addictive behaviors.
Justification
Give an example of how you used justification.
Using something else to replace or substitute the feelings/results you used to get from using substances.
Cross Addiction
Where do you see your addictive patterns popping up outside of substance use?
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.
NA Tradition 3
Why do you think this tradition is important?
A state of mind where you are taking notice of the good things in your life, rather than focusing on the bad.
Gratitude
What's one thing you are grateful for?
A feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness.
Embarrassment
When is the last time you felt embarrassed?