Excerpt:

"What Is Relapse Prevention Treatment?"

"Relapse prevention is a systematic method of teaching recovering
patients to recognize and manage relapse warning signs. Relapse
prevention becomes the primary focus for patients who are unable to
maintain abstinence from alcohol or drugs despite primary treatment.

Recovery is defined as abstinence plus a full return to
bio/psycho/social functioning. As previously noted, relapse is defined
as the process of becoming dysfunctional in recovery, which leads to a
return to chemical use, physical or emotional collapse, or suicide.
Relapse episodes are usually preceded by a series of observable warning
signs.

To understand the progression of warning signs, it is important to look
at the dynamic interaction between the recovery and relapse processes.
Recovery and relapse can be described as related processes that unfold
in six stages:

1. Abstaining from alcohol and other drugs

2. Separating from people, places, and things that promote the use of
alcohol or drugs, and establishing a social network that supports
recovery

3. Stopping self-defeating behaviors that prevent awareness of painful
feelings and irrational thoughts
4. Learning how to manage feelings and emotions responsibly without
resorting to compulsive behavior or the use of alcohol or drugs.

5. Learning to change addictive thinking patterns that create painful
feelings and self-defeating behaviors

6. Identifying and changing the mistaken core beliefs about oneself,
others, and the world that promote irrational thinking.

When people who have had a stable recovery and have done well begin to
relapse, they simply reverse this process. In other words, they:

1. Have a mistaken belief that causes irrational thoughts

2. Begin to return to addictive thinking patterns that cause painful
feelings

3. Engage in compulsive, self-defeating behaviors as a way to avoid the
feelings

4. Seek out situations involving people who use alcohol and drugs.

5. Find themselves in more pain, thinking less rationally, and behaving
less responsibly

6. Find themselves in a situation in which drug or alcohol use seems
like a logical escape from their pain, and they use alcohol or drugs.


A number of basic principles and procedures underlie the CENAPS Model of
Relapse Prevention Therapy. Each principle forms the basis of specific
relapse prevention therapy procedures.

Principle 1: Self-Regulation
The risk of relapse will decrease as a patient's capacity to
self-regulate thinking, feeling, memory, judgment, and behavior
increases.

Principle 2: Integration
The risk of relapse will decrease as the level of conscious
understanding and acceptance of situations and events that have led to
past relapses increases.

Principle 3: Understanding
The risk of relapse will decrease as the understanding of the general
factors that cause relapse increases.

Principle 4: Self-Knowledge
The risk of relapse will decrease as the patient's ability to recognize
personal relapse warning signs increases.

Principle 5: Coping Skills
The risk of relapse will decrease as the ability to manage relapse
warning signs increases.

Principle 6: Change
The risk of relapse will decrease as the relationship between relapse
warning signs and recovery program recommendations increases.

Principle 7: Awareness
The risk of relapse will decrease as the use of daily inventory
techniques designed to identify relapse warning signs increases.

Principle 8: Significant Others
The risk of relapse will decrease as the responsible involvement of
significant others in recovery and in relapse prevention planning
increases.

Principle 9: Maintenance
The risk of relapse decreases if the relapse prevention plan is
regularlyupdated during the first 3 years of sobriety."

http://www.aa2.org/philosophy/relapseprevention.htm*

NeuroEquipoise@webtv.net (neuro equipoise) wrote:

>Excerpt:
>
>"What Is Relapse Prevention Treatment?"
>
>"Relapse prevention is a systematic method of teaching recovering
>patients to recognize and manage relapse warning signs. Relapse
>prevention becomes the primary focus for patients who are unable to
>maintain abstinence from alcohol or drugs despite primary treatment.
>
>Recovery is defined as abstinence plus a full return to
>bio/psycho/social functioning. As previously noted, relapse is defined
>as the process of becoming dysfunctional in recovery, which leads to a
>return to chemical use, physical or emotional collapse, or suicide.
>Relapse episodes are usually preceded by a series of observable warning
>signs.
>
>To understand the progression of warning signs, it is important to look
>at the dynamic interaction between the recovery and relapse processes.
>Recovery and relapse can be described as related processes that unfold
>in six stages:
>
>1. Abstaining from alcohol and other drugs
>
>2. Separating from people, places, and things that promote the use of
>alcohol or drugs, and establishing a social network that supports
>recovery

In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to
shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the
alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but
usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried
these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed.

rockhound wrote:
> NeuroEquipoise@webtv.net (neuro equipoise) wrote:
>
>
>>Excerpt:
>>
>>"What Is Relapse Prevention Treatment?"
>>
>>"Relapse prevention is a systematic method of teaching recovering
>>patients to recognize and manage relapse warning signs. Relapse
>>prevention becomes the primary focus for patients who are unable to
>>maintain abstinence from alcohol or drugs despite primary treatment.
>>
>>Recovery is defined as abstinence plus a full return to
>>bio/psycho/social functioning. As previously noted, relapse is defined
>>as the process of becoming dysfunctional in recovery, which leads to a
>>return to chemical use, physical or emotional collapse, or suicide.
>>Relapse episodes are usually preceded by a series of observable warning
>>signs.
>>
>>To understand the progression of warning signs, it is important to look
>>at the dynamic interaction between the recovery and relapse processes.
>>Recovery and relapse can be described as related processes that unfold
>>in six stages:
>>
>>1. Abstaining from alcohol and other drugs
>>
>>2. Separating from people, places, and things that promote the use of
>>alcohol or drugs, and establishing a social network that supports
>>recovery
>
>
> In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to
> shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the
> alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but
> usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried
> these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed.

Hold on. In more than one AA meeting I've heard AA oldtimers say to
newcomers, "avoid people, places, and things." Are you quoting the AA
literature to refute this poster's submission, in essence contradicting
years of practical AA experience?

It is a *good* idea to "separate from people, places, and things that
promote the use of alcohol or drugs," especially in early sobriety. It
is a *good* idea to "establish a social network that supports recovery."
In my case, it was AA.

: It is a *good* idea to "separate from people, places, and things
that
: promote the use of alcohol or drugs," especially in early
sobriety. It
: is a *good* idea to "establish a social network that supports
recovery."
: In my case, it was AA.


i agree with this advise also.
gorski's relapse prevention was originally formatted for use in
AFTERCARE treatment, and "the doomed to failure" advise was nowhere
to be found.

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 08:14:45 -0400, R.J. <> wrote:
> rockhound wrote:

>> In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to
>> shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the
>> alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but
>> usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried
>> these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed.
>
> Hold on. In more than one AA meeting I've heard AA oldtimers say to
> newcomers, "avoid people, places, and things." Are you quoting the AA
> literature to refute this poster's submission, in essence contradicting
> years of practical AA experience?
>
> It is a *good* idea to "separate from people, places, and things that
> promote the use of alcohol or drugs," especially in early sobriety.

Nevermind that your paraphrase is incomplete and inaccurate; your logic,
then, is that old timers trump old old timers? Hope you're not in
sales.

http://anonpress.org/bb/Page_101.htm

> It is a *good* idea to "establish a social network that supports
> recovery." In my case, it was AA.

What does that have to do with the price of bananas?

--
AB5DB9CC

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 08:14:45 -0400, "R.J." <apt3j#yahoonospam.com>
wrote:

>> In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to
>> shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the
>> alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but
>> usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried
>> these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed.
>
>Hold on. In more than one AA meeting I've heard AA oldtimers say to
>newcomers, "avoid people, places, and things." Are you quoting the AA
>literature to refute this poster's submission, in essence contradicting
>years of practical AA experience?

No, it's the other way around ... those who prescribe "avoid people,
places and things" can be contradicting the literature.

>It is a *good* idea to "separate from people, places, and things that
>promote the use of alcohol or drugs," especially in early sobriety.

Yes, and those who follow the directions from AA's literature to the
point quoted above will be doing this already.

--
Blue Moon