ILBS 75 | Avoid A Relapse

 

Do you know that you’ll have a 67% chance of making it to five years if you stay in therapy for a year? Tim Westbrook, MS, discusses how essential it is to follow your recommended treatment plan to avoid a relapse. Your goal should be to make it a year. You NEED the accountability, connection, and support to live a kick-ass sober life. The key is your willingness to follow the plan that’s tailored for you. Be willing to take suggestions even if you disagree with them. Listen to this episode for more tips on how to avoid slipping.

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How To Avoid A Relapse: Secret #4 Stay In Therapy & Follow Your Recommended Treatment Plan

My team and I, over the course of many years, have helped thousands of people to stop their suffering and continue on their path to recovery. Let’s get clear on one thing. We believe that a relapse or a slip is not a part of recovery. That is exactly why this show is dedicated to you or any loved one you know in their first year of striving to live a clean and sober life. The purpose of this show is to come clean with all of the misinformation that is out there about recovery, addiction treatment, mental illness, and the strategies to stay sober in general.

If you believe you are in the right place or if you know someone who is struggling with addiction, it is my privilege to share this show with you. I have no idea if you and I have ever met, but what I do know is that AA saved my life. I also know that finding long-term recovery and living happy, joyous, and free is not just about stopping your drinking, drugging, gambling, sexual indiscretions, or any other addiction you may have struggled with or suffered from.

At Camelback Recovery, we believe that sobriety can and should be fun. Any recovery process is not easy. It is challenging. It can sometimes be annoying. For most of us, it is often difficult to stay on the path, but here is the good news. The self-awareness you gained from reading this, especially if you are in the first year of your recovery, will help you make better choices, ultimately leading to a kick-ass sober life. Visit CamelbackRecovery.com to learn more about our treatment strategies for alcoholism, drug addiction, or mental illness. We even offer recovery coaching so that you can enjoy the freedom and happiness you have always searched for.

Welcome to the 75th episode of the show devoted to people in their first year of sobriety. Although your first year in sobriety is central to our discussions, you and I will also explore other fascinating and important topics such as health and fitness, self-care, food and nutrition, breathwork, and biohacking just to name a few. All of these things are your gateway to living a kick-ass sober life which is our mantra at Camelback Recovery.

In this episode, number 75, you will learn about the fourth secret, which I believe is critical to avoiding a relapse. You will discover that continuing with your recommended treatment plan, meaning you stay in therapy and follow through with sober living in anything else that was recommended, is key if you want to avoid a relapse and why it is so important if you want to avoid the slip.

[bctt tweet=”The question is, “Why the pain?” not, “Why the addiction?”” via=”no”]

I will share my experience with following a recommended treatment plan. Based upon the information you get from this episode, you will be able to figure out how it works for you. Lean in and read carefully because this episode could have a significant impact on how you can make it to a year and much closer to living a kick-ass sober life. Also, this show is like an AA meeting. Everyone here is either clean and sober, struggling to get clean and sober, thinking about getting clean and sober or whatever it may be or just here to learn.

If you learn anything that resonates with you throughout this episode, please let us know in the comment section of YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. What you share might resonate with somebody else and possibly save them from a relapse or even save their lives. Every review and every comment gets us that much closer to helping one more person or one more family. Don’t be shy and be sure to share what resonates with you in the comment section.

You must continue with your recommended treatment plan, meaning follow through with your full treatment plan, your aftercare plan, do not leave AMA from the treatment center, make sure that you go to PHP, IOP, you graduate, you stay in sober living, you get a recovery coach, you go to 90 meetings in 90 days, or whatever your treatment plan is. I am giving you some examples. Follow through with the treatment plan that was laid out for you by a professional. Doctor Gabor Maté, one of the number one addiction doctors in the world, says, “The question is, ‘Why the pain?’ not, “Why the addiction?’”

You must seek professional guidance to confront the world of emotional issues that you used to avoid by drinking and doing drugs. That is why you need to continue seeing a professional. You must learn how to deal with these issues and relationships in a healthy way. You need a professional to help you do this with this step.

The issues are causing you to drink, drug, act out, overeat, gamble, etc. If you have been to an in-patient treatment, you have likely been an aftercare plan. Make sure you follow that plan. It takes time for your thinking to change. As I have stated multiple times, more than 90% of the people relapse in their first year, 67% of those people who make it to a year make it to 5 years, and 85% of people who make it to 5 years make it to life.

ILBS 75 | Avoid A Relapse

Avoid A Relapse: If you change your plan, be sure to get all parties to agree.

 

The goal is to get you to a year first. If you make it to a year, then you have a 67% chance of making it to five years. Doctors, dentists, and airline pilots are required to be monitored for five years if they get in trouble for drug or alcohol-related issues. The success rate for that population is over 85%. What that shows is the longer you stay connected, the longer you are held accountable, the more likely it is that you are going to make it clean and sober for life.

Your best thinking got you where you are now. If you want to change your thinking and change your life, you must be willing to follow the plan as it was laid out for you. You must be willing to take suggestions even if you do not agree with them. Follow the treatment plan that was laid out for you. It was designed specifically for you by a professional, your case manager, your interventionists, and your therapist. I am sure that you have had some input with the plan as it was laid out for you. Your family members were also involved.

If you get involved with the 12-step fellowship or some other self-help group, follow the suggestions. Meaning, if you get involved with AA or some other 12-step program, get a sponsor, work the steps, get a home group, get a service commitment, go to 90 meetings in 90 days, and get involved. You are building your foundation.

I have seen many people come to one of our sober living homes and originally, they say they are going to stay for three months. They start to feel better and they start to think that they do not need to be in sober living anymore. They do not need the rules. They do not need the accountability. They do not need the curfew. They do not like the curfew. They had this thing figured out. They say, “I am good. I do not need sober living anymore.” They are never going to drink or use again. They do not need to continue seeing their therapist. They do not need to continue with IOP for whatever reason

It might be that they do not want to spend the money. For the most part, addicts and alcoholics, early on in recovery, can justify and rationalize anything. Alcoholics and drug addicts are smart. We can rationalize anything and make anything sound good. There are so many things that happen in the first year that you will experience for the very first time while clean and sober.

[bctt tweet=”If you want to avoid a relapse, follow the recommended treatment plan.” via=”no”]

Your birthday, other birthdays, New Year’s Eve, Christmas, new relationships, you break up from a relationship, you find a new job, you get fired from your job, you move to a new area, you have a new roommate, you do not get along with your roommate, or your renew roommate wants to celebrate. If you are going to make a change to your plan, be sure to talk with your case manager, your interventionists, your therapist, your sponsor, and your loved ones. Getting all parties to agree on you making a change to your plan would be the only way to even consider it.

Alcoholics and drug addicts all think alike. It is easy to convince somebody that is not an alcoholic or an addict in recovery because the alcoholics and the addicts are smart. We think the same. You can convince the other alcoholics and addicts in recovery that are clean and sober that your idea is a good idea, you can convince your sponsor that your idea is a good idea.

You convincing your parents who are not in the disease that your idea is a good idea, that is not a good plan. If that makes sense, if you are going to change your plan, you want to make sure that you are thinking it through and talking to somebody else besides yourself. You are convincing other people that have experience with recovery. That is the right way to go about things if you want to make a change to it.

Here is a quick review about the insights you and I both rediscovered in the 75th episode. Staying in therapy and continuing with your recommended treatment plan is key to avoiding a relapse. I went over why it is so important to stick with your plan. I shared my experience with how I have seen people follow through with their recommended treatment plan.

I have also shown how I have seen people not follow through with their recommended treatment plan. It 100% of the time ends in a relapse. Based upon the information you heard from this episode, you can figure out how it works for you. Remember, these insights will only work for you if you work them. Please make sure you apply what you have learned in this episode because if you do, you will be on your way to living a kick-ass sober life. You will agree that is exciting to think about.

Speaking of reviews, before we end this episode, I want you to go to the review section on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify and type in one thing that resonated with you. Every comment counts and what you share could resonate with someone else that is struggling and potentially save their life. You will also be asked to rate this episode. I hope I have earned five stars from you. Go ahead, share the one thing that resonated with you in the review section. It will take three minutes out of your day, but what you share could save you and save someone else’s life.

That does it for this episode. I hope that our paths cross again. This is the show devoted to people in their first year of sobriety. Do whatever it takes to join me for episode 76 because we are going to talk about secret number five, self-care. I encourage you to invite a friend, a loved one or a sponsee to check out the show. I cannot wait to connect with you then. It will be an insightful episode. I want you to join us with your loved one.

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