At Clean Recovery Centers, recovery doesn’t just end after treatment. It keeps going, keeps evolving, just like you. Sometimes the path to recovery isn’t clear or straightforward; sometimes it can feel like a mountain hike or jog in the rain. There’s no shame or judgment on where you go or how far you stray, but we hope that we can be the lighthouse when you need to find your way back.

Staying clean after treatment can be difficult. You may find yourself trying to adjust to triggers and feelings that you never experienced before treatment started. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that relapse is common, with 40% to 60% of individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) returning to substance use. But this doesn’t mean that treatment has failed. It means that it’s time to change something in your recovery. 

Below are 7 steps to help you stay clean after treatment.

Step 1: Prepare for the Stages of Recovery

Even though it can be hard, you have to acknowledge that recovery is never linear. We all have our own lives, changes, and stresses that shake everything up from time to time. Some days may be easier than others, and that’s okay. The point is to keep going — keep walking the path to recovery.

Returning to use after treatment doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Return to substance use is a natural and understandable part of the recovery process, and it might just mean you’ve missed out on some signs that have triggered your return to use.

Step 2: Understand the Stages of Relapse

Relapse is common in addiction recovery, often occurring in three different stages: emotional, mental, and physical relapse. Recognizing the symptoms of relapse can help you reduce triggers, develop prevention strategies, and feel better overall in your recovery journey.

• Emotional

During the emotional relapse stage, you may find yourself battling mood swings and behavioral changes. You may find yourself sleeping too much, not eating enough, or feeling stressed and angry, but without any real reason why. Sometimes, emotional relapse can trigger from experiencing challenges that preceded the original use of substances, or new challenges that may be distressing.

It is typical during this stage to be unaware or in denial that it is happening; rather than ignoring the signs, it can be helpful to address your needs and implement techniques to handle any thoughts of returning to substance use

Helpful prevention strategies include:

• Learning coping skills to recognize thoughts of substance use
• Using HALT ( hungry, angry, lonely, tired) as a way of recognizing the signs of your emotional relapse
• Finding time to engage in activities and hobbies that you love doing

• Mental

During the mental relapse stage, you might find yourself thinking about substance use often, and possibly how you can start to use them. Like the emotional relapse stage, it is common for the mental relapse stage to be triggered by people, places, or experiences that are associated with substance use.

Returning to the use of substances can be increasingly difficult during this time, and you may find yourself only thinking about substances positively, rationalizing that a return to use might be a good thing. This is a natural process during recovery, as it can often be hard to immediately identify every trigger that is going to provoke a thought or feeling associated with a substance.

Helpful prevention strategies during the mental relapse phase include:

• Finding a friend or mentor with whom you feel comfortable discussing your thoughts
• Avoiding people and places that may trigger your thoughts
• Accept that these cravings will happen, and that they can and will pass

• Physical

During the physical phase of relapse, you have taken the substance. During this phase, it is important to recognize that you are okay. This is not an automatic failure. You can accept that this has happened, that you still have control, and you can choose to keep going on your recovery journey.

It is natural to feel guilt or frustration during this time, but to move forward, you have to forgive yourself. By accepting that you have returned to use, you can begin to continue the recovery process.

Helpful management during return to use includes:

• Speaking to your support system and being honest about what you are experiencing
• Talking to a therapist or returning to treatment
• Making healthy and productive lifestyle changes that avoid triggers

Step 3. Engage in Aftercare

Aftercare is an extremely beneficial part of life after treatment. Aftercare means that your support through recovery is never-ending; someone will always be there for you when you need someone to lean on. Ongoing support throughout your recovery journey can increase the chances of lasting improvement through a sense of structure and accountability.

In an aftercare program at Clean Recovery Centers, we’ll help you build the foundation of recovery that will last a lifetime. 

In aftercare, you will:

• Increase and strengthen the relapse prevention skills that are needed when experiencing stressors, relationships, and struggles that exist in the real world
• Continue to receive ongoing support through individual therapy and group AA and NA meetings
• Develop an aftercare plan that takes into account your goals and your needs
• Find consistent and deep support from a community of peers that support you and hold you accountable in your recovery

Throughout your recovery, you might find that something isn’t working for you. That’s okay! Just like treatment, your recovery ebbs and flows, requiring you and your aftercare to always be ready to evolve.

Step 4. Create a Support System

A support system can be crucial in lasting recovery. Having someone by your side who listens and understands what you are going through can be the difference between climbing to the top of the mountain and staying in the same spot. Your support system can be anyone who cares about you, holds you accountable, and is willing to walk with you on your recovery journey.

Examples of a support system include:

• Your family: Your parents, siblings, grandparents, and anyone else with a familial bond. Those who might know you the most and have seen you through every stage of your life. They can be there the most when you need them. Although sometimes it might feel like they don’t understand, it may be beneficial to sit down with them in family therapy and help them see the ins and outs of your addiction. Cultivating a deeper bond through communication and understanding can create a clearer path to recovery.
• Your friends: Best friends, old friends, people who just care about you. Sometimes, it’s easier to talk about our problems with the family that we choose. The people that you have become close to, the ones who see you in a different and fresher light than your family, can hold you accountable in a way that doesn’t feel intrusive. Although it may be hard for friends to change their routines, sitting down and planning a way for you to move throughout daily life without encountering triggers can create boundaries and allow for deeper understanding.

Fellow peers:Friends you made during treatment, people you met at support meetings, people who have been there too. There is no one more willing to be there for you than someone who has been right where you are. You rely on each other, supporting each other through the ups and downs of recovery. There’s no judgment from a kindred soul, only progress in the process.

Step 5. Have a Prevention Plan on Hand

For a successful recovery, it’s essential to create a relapse prevention plan. It can be on a stack of flash cards, a page in a composition notebook, or a note in a phone app — wherever it is, it has to be close at hand.

Your prevention plan should be personalized and include the things you can do if you feel yourself starting to crave a substance. Maybe it’s walking your dog, talking to a friend, watching your favorite movie, or anything you think can help you overcome unhealthy thoughts and actions. Discussing these plans with a support system and including them in your prevention plan can also be extremely beneficial.

Step 6. Identify and Avoid Triggers

Triggers can be difficult to determine, even several years after treatment ends. Triggers can stem from people, places, things, or even experiences. It’s understandable not to know if something is going to affect you if you haven’t experienced it in years.

During therapy, you can learn to identify the thoughts, feelings, and situations that may have led to your initial substance use. Once triggers are identified, you can come up with a plan to avoid or manage them. You may need to avoid places that once brought you joy or avoid situations where unhealthy feelings can occur. You may have to remove unhelpful people or items from your life that aren’t productive in your recovery, but this is also a part of the process.

Step 7. Banish Negative Self-Talk

Negative thoughts can be cruel and untrue, and can probe deeper feelings you may have about yourself and your process. You think you’re “not good enough,” or that you “aren’t worth the trouble” of the recovery journey — but this is not true. You are capable, strong, and worth it.

Although you may hear good things about having a positive mindset, it’s not very easy to disrupt these thought patterns once they’ve begun. That is why engaging in evidence-based therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is very helpful after treatment.

CBT helps you recognize and address your negative thinking and behavioral patterns that have deeply affected your way of life. CBT works to challenge your negative thinking and change the thinking and behavioral patterns that are causing it. By working on your own and with a CBT therapist, you can learn to change the way you feel, react, and think in different situations.

Reach Out to Clean Recovery Centers

It can be difficult to manage the transitional period after initial treatment. With all of the new triggers, negative thoughts, and changes to daily life, it can feel stressful and overwhelming. You may feel like you can’t handle all of it alone. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to reach out your hand for guidance. Gaining further support or even returning to treatment can be beneficial when trying to create a lasting change in your life. At Clean Recovery Centers, we believe that no one should have to walk the road to recovery alone. We are always here to support you throughout your journey.

To receive support on staying clean after treatment, reach out to Clean Recovery Centers at (888) 330-2532. We can answer any questions about treatment and guide you through the resources that provide further support.

Get Clean. Live Clean. Stay Clean.