Relapse Prevention Course

Our course book, formerly titled An Ounce of Prevention: A Course in Relapse Prevention©, serves as the psycho-educational foundation and inspiration for all of our relapse prevention products and services.   This task-oriented guide for developing a personal relapse prevention plan can be completed while enrolled in residential or outpatient treatment for addiction or as an independent study.  At the core of the model is our belief that relapse is a process, not an event, and as such can be identified, intervened upon and prevented.

We have received feedback from our clients that the psycho-educational material is easy to read as it is written in the everyday language of recovery. Furthermore, clients have enjoyed a welcome reception from family and recovery support group members who have described the work our clients have done in the course to be a comprehensive plan for change.

We are thrilled that residential and outpatient addiction treatment providers are beginning to integrate the curriculum, designed to to maximize its use, into their clinical course in treatment and discharge planning process.

Our Relapse Prevention Treatment Model

The relapse prevention treatment model is designed to:

• unravel the mystery of the relapse process so that any person recovering from an addictive illness can see the relapse coming
• provide the steps newcomers and old timers alike can take to increase their insurance against relapse
• serve as a source of hope to those who have come to fear that sobriety is beyond their reach
• aid the readers in gaining insights into coping strategies currently being used that serve only to undermine their recovery efforts and cheat them out of the joy of sober living.

Course Sections

The course is broken into the follow 6 Sections:

• Section 1- The Course Overview:

This section highlights the six sequential sections that build on each other and concludes with prerequisites to consider before beginning the course as an independent study.

• Section 2- Establishing a Foundation for Recovery:

This section provides a review of the first three of the Twelve Steps as they relate to relapse prevention and closes out with stabilization plans for those that are new to recovery or returning after a relapse.

• Section 3- The Anatomy of Relapse:

This section presents the concepts critical to understanding that relapse is a process that can be detected, intervened upon, and prevented. Each phase in the relapse process is explored in depth.  Writing assignments that can be completed alone or in a group are presented to help develop a personal relapse profile.

• Section 4- Understanding the Symptoms of the Phases of Relapse: 

This section aids in the identification of the symptoms in each relapse phase along with a selection of common symptoms to choose from and space to add personal creations. The symptoms one selects will help direct the individual in the development of intervention strategies in Section 5.

• Section 5- Strategies for Interrupting the Relapse Process: 

This section guides one in the construction of personalized strategies for intervening on the symptoms identified earlier. Sample strategies are offered for each phase along with a model for creating additional personalized interventions that fit the reader best.

• Section 6- Personal Relapse Prevention Plan: 

This section brings all the exploratory work the reader completed on identifying the personal potential relapse symptoms and the strategies created for addressing them into one clear plan.