Relapse can be an unfortunate part of the journey of recovery. While it can feel like it is a negative sign, it is something that can happen to anyone and can be common amongst those in recovery. The National Insitute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) says, “Treatment of chronic diseases involves changing deeply rooted behaviors, and relapse doesn’t mean treatment has failed.” It is important to handle a relapse in the moments and days after by making a plan. The next steps you take will help lead you to continue success.
Working Together to Handle a Relapse
The most important thing in recovery can oftentimes be who or what you have around you. Success can be found in having the right recovery team with you. A team can be made from therapists from your facility, peers, and family – all of whom will work together with you. This team should be made up of those you can lean on and who will be there for you through all stages of recovery, including possibly handling a relapse.
Filling your life with non-judgmental support is a way to succeed in recovery. Having people to work alongside you ensures that you will not feel alone. Feeling alone can add to isolation and depression and veer you off the path of recovery. Keeping in contact with your recovery team and working through even the messy part of recovery ensures that you will never feel alone or isolated.
Keep in Contact
It is important to have access to and work with a support network in situations of relapse. It is equally important to keep in contact with your recovery facility at Clearview as well as your support network when handling a relapse. Keeping your recovery team up to date on what is going on is important for your long-term success. It is not a burden but part of your long-term treatment.
That can mean keeping in touch with and following up with your recovery team from your program or finding a group of recovery-focused individuals. It is important to lean on people who support you and have the same goals. If you ever feel close to relapse or feel like you are straying from your recovery focus, having numbers you can call and people you can rely on is the best way to keep yourself in control.
Getting Help to Handle a Relapse
If things ever feel out of your control or handling the relapse alone is becoming too hard, there is never shame in relying on what has worked for you and many others before. When things feel like they are getting too hard, you never have to feel like you are facing them alone. As an alumnus of Clearview Horizon Girls Academy, you always have somewhere to lean on.
Recovery facilities and teams are not just for the first time you walk this journey. They are there for you in every stage of recovery, including the path you walk after treatment. Calling your recovery team, therapists, and treatment guides is always an option, and they can help you set up a new treatment plan.
There is never shame in reaching out, as that is what these facilities are there for. Recovery is a journey that includes every stage of life. Keeping your facility as part of your ever-evolving plans is a way to make sure your plan is one for success.
Make a Plan
When relapses happen, it’s important to make and maintain a continuation plan. These plans can prevent relapse and help you to stay on track in the future. This is something you can do with your recovery network and maintain with their support in your life.
Plans can be as simple as a list of numbers to reach out to when you are feeling overwhelmed and as detailed as a step-by-step detailed list of what to do when certain feelings arise. You don’t have to do this alone; in fact, these plans are more successful when shared and implemented by your support network. Making a plan and sticking to it is the best way to move forward in your recovery journey. Handling a relapse is one moment on a journey forward.
Looking Forward
It is important to remember that when relapse happens, the next step is always a step forward. You are strong enough to endure recovery and all the steps that come after this. Relapse may happen to anyone, but it’s important to remember that it is not the end of your recovery. It is only a step in your journey forward.
There is so much in life and recovery to look forward to, and your future is vast and bright, even when a relapse happens. Relapse is one step in a life-long journey of recovery. It is something that you can handle, even when it may feel big and overwhelming.
Getting and staying recovered is one of the hardest things that someone may have to go through in their life, and you have already done it. You can handle a relapse and all the steps that come next, even if they feel overwhelming. Being in recovery, you have already handled so much. To handle a relapse on your own may be difficult, but it is never something you have to do alone.
Relapse can feel as if it is final and devastating, but it is, in fact, just one step in your journey of recovery. You never have to feel alone against recovery when you keep in contact with your recovery team and surround yourself with supportive and positive peers. The most important thing after recovery is to make a plan and reach out when you need it. Looking forward to a positive future will help create one for you and move you along the journey of life and recovery. Always know that if things feel too big or hard, you can get help. If you feel overwhelmed after relapse, contact Clearview at 866-584-4788.
