2. Review Last Week
0 Create a definition of success for the whole group
0 Identify all of the things people think they need to do or
have to be successful.
0 Narrow it down to 5 characteristics the whole group can
agree on
0 Discuss why those 5 characteristics are more important
than the others to your group
0 Relate those characteristics to the spiritual principles of
the 12 steps
0 Identify one thing you can start doing to achieve each
characteristic listed

3. Additional Application
0 Complete the following sentence---
0 My child will be a success in life when he or she . . .

4. Objectives
0 Define Relapse
0 Identify Relapse Warning Signs
0 Identify Strengths
0 Learn about how your addiction developed

5. Relapse Definition
0 Relapse is the return to something that has been
previously stopped
0 For the addict, a relapse is multidimensional
0 Emotional
0 Mental
0 Physical
0 Social
0 Review your addicted vs. sober worksheet.
0 A relapse is when you start returning to any of these
people, places, things, behaviors or feeling states.

6. Emotional Relapse
0 In emotional relapse, you're not thinking about using.
But your emotions and behaviors are setting you up
for a possible relapse in the future.
0 Negative emotions make us uncomfortable
0 The healthy person identifies the emotion, decides why
they are feeling that way and takes steps to fix the problem
0 The addict becomes stuck in the emotion, sometimes
0 Nurturing and blowing it out of proportion
0 Personalizing it
0 Trying to escape from it by getting high

7. Preventing Emotional Relapse
0 Keep a gratitude journal
0 Avoid personalizing something that may not be about
you
0 Remember that…
0 Negative emotions are our mind’s way of telling us to
get off our butts and do something—Like our car’s idiot
light or hunger pangs
0 Dwelling, nurturing, hiding from negative emotions
never makes anything better
0 You can *choose* to feel and fix or relapse and repeat

8. Activity
0 List 10 things that you chose to get anxious or angry
about over the last week
0 Why did you get upset? (What was your mind telling
you needed to be fixed)
0 Did getting upset do any good?
0 What could you do differently next time to either
0 Change/fix the situation
0 Change how you feel about the situation OR
0 Let it go

9. Mental Relapse
0 In mental relapse there's a war going on in your mind.
Part of you wants to use, but part of you doesn't.
0 The signs of mental relapse are:
0 Thinking about people, places, and things you used with
0 Glamorizing your past use
0 Lying to yourself and others
0 Justifying your behaviors
0 Minimizing the impact of one (drink/hit/bet etc.)
0 “Screw It” attitude
0 Paranoia

10. Preventing Mental Relapse
0 KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid
0 Good Orderly Direction
0 Your life is a road map
0 The destination is recovery and happiness
0 Before you act, think whether that keeps you on the
right road, or is an unplanned detour
0 Maintain Head-Heart-Gut Honesty

11. Social Relapse
0 You have returned to the old people and places.
0 You have withdrawn from your sober social supports
0 You have become self-centered
0 Your life has begun to center around your “friends”
who support your habit or you have isolated yourself

12. Preventing Social Relapse
0 Contact your sponsor on a daily basis for the first 3
months
0 Keep a business card in your wallet with the names
and numbers of 3 sober supports
0 Change your phone number (if possible) and destroy
contact information for your “using” friends
0 Find at least one prosocial activity to do each week ---
volunteer, church, go to the gym

13. Physical Relapse
0 Physical relapse is characterized by
0 Cravings
0 Dreams about the drug
0 Neglecting physical health (sleep, exercise, nutrition,
medication)
0 Using

14. Preventing Physical Relapse
0 HALT
0 Hungry--- Nourish your mind, heart and body.
0 Angry--- Emotional relapse anyone???
0 Lonely---

15. Reviewing Strengths
0 What do you do when you are not using?
0 List three ways you cope with stress besides using?
0 What activities do you like that do not involve using?
0 When you are not using, what is different? Are you…
0 Going to meetings
0 Working out
0 Volunteering
0 Spending time with your dog
0 Other….
0 These all strengths you can use to prevent relapse

16. Relapse Prevention Planning
0 Include time in the morning and at night to “get
grounded” (Can be your drive to and from work)
0 Avoid alone, idol time (Go to the library, gym…)
0 Set realistic daily goals
0 Give yourself credit for positive accomplishments
Note: You will review and refine this plan as we go along

17. Homework
0 Write your autobiography
0 Begin with your first memory
0 Are you happy, sad, scared
0 Who was important in your life and why
0 Were you getting your basic needs met? Why or why not?
0 Food, shelter, safety, love, acceptance
0 Who were your friends?
0 What are the three most influential things that happened
during that time?
0 Answer those same questions for elementary school; middle
school; high school, early 20s, late 20s, 30s, etc up to present
day.
0 Now go back and identify when you started using and why
0 Look back, before that time, and identify when you started
developing your addictive behaviors. What were you trying to
control or escape from?

18. Homework Part 2
0 Identify all of the times you tried to quit.
0 Why you wanted to quit
0 What you did that worked
0 What you did that did not work
0 What is different when you are not using
0 What your relapse warning signs were
0 What triggered the relapse
0 What you can do to prevent that from happening again