Relapse Prevention
Feelings, individuals, or situations that cause your brain to crave substances; if you are unaware of them they could be a factor for relapse.
Triggers
Bonus: Share your triggers and what you do about them
"If I'm not perfect, I have failed."
All or Nothing or Black and White Thinking
Doing or thinking about something different when you feel yourself being triggered to use substances
Opposite Action
Bonus: Examples
Often cited as the "only step that you have to do perfectly", this is an admission of powerlessness over alcohol.
Step One
The physical symptoms experienced after detoxification that relate to the "bodily healing" from substance abuse
Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms or (PAWS)
Bonus: Five possible symptoms
Name the stages of relapse in order.
Emotional, mental, physical
Bonus: Give an example for each stage for you
This thinking error is used to make people feel sorry for us. Example: “I would not have hurt him if I had not have been hurt myself.”
Vicimization/Victim Stance
What does the acronym HALT stand for?
Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired
What are the 3 function of emotions
Communicate (and influence) to others
Organize and motivate action
Self validation ( our emotions give us info about a situation)
During this early stage of recovering you feel happy and good about your progress, you feel extremely confident that your drug problem is cure
Pink Cloud
These thoughts are harmful in recovery and can be things we tell ourselves to talk us into using again
Relapse justification thoughts
Bonus: to anyone willing to share a time when they had a justification thought
Assuming that because we feel a certain way what we think must be true. "I feel embarrassed so I must be an idiot."
Emotional Reasoning
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
What is wise mind?
Bonus: Give an example of a time you were in wise mind. What gets in the way
The inability or reduced ability to feel pleasure
Anhedonia
Bonus: Share your experience or how this affects early recovery
What are the five stages of change?
Pre-contemplation; Contemplation; Preparation; Action; Maintenance
Bonus/Discussion: Can someone identify which stage they are in and explain
They owe it to me after all I have been through
Entitlement
Taking your mind off the problem for a while is this type of coping skill
Distraction
Bonus: Name at least 5 healthy distractions, and talk about about when distraction may be an unhealthy coping skill
What is willing versus willful
Willing is doing what you need to in each situation, focus on what is effective, in wise mind
Willful is refusing to make changes when needed, giving up, trying to change the unchangeable or refusing to tolerate your present experience
Using another hobby, substance, or activity to replace or substitute feelings/results that you used to get from using
Cross Addiction
How could over commitment lead to relapse?
This can lead to feeling overloaded and under pressure.
increased stress that promotes escapism
encourages grandiosity and wishful thinking in high risk situations
recovery is not a race- it can set unrealistic expectations for recovery.
What are the 5 rules of rational thinking
1. are your thoughts based on reality/facts
2. Are your thoughts helping protect your life and health
3. Are you thoughts helping you achieve your goals
4. Are your thoughts helping keep you out of conflict with others
5. Are your thoughts leading you to feel the way you want to without drugs and alcohol
Name a coping skill you have never tried but want to
Bonus: What gets in the way of using coping skills
Name at least 3 myths about happiness
there is something wrong if you aren't happy or you're defective if you aren't happy all the time
external factors can bring you happiness
you can't be happy if things aren't going your way
happiness is fixed
happiness is our natural state
happy people live longer
Someone who guides a newcomer through the process of 12-step groups
Sponsor
Bonus: for sharing what you know about sponsorship, what you like about the idea of it, and how a "bad" sponsor could affect recovery success.