Relapse Prevention in McAllen, TX

If you have recently succeeded in ending an addiction, you do deserve to feel good about your victory. It's important to take a moment to understand that while you won a battle, there is still the war that remains. It takes work to achieve sustained victory. If you've heard of the term relapse prevention, it's time to truly understand what it is by looking into our programs for relapse prevention in McAllen.

Drug and alcohol relapse prevention, the part that comes after our primary drug rehab in McAllen, is actually the most important part of the process of attaining freedom from addiction. Our experts in relapse prevention in McAllen can help you truly understand how important this process is, and learn how to engage in it. It would be a great idea to call.

What is Relapse Prevention?

Addiction is a mental disorder. Like many other conditions that affect the brain, it cannot be cured with treatment over a reasonable period of time. Addiction creates permanent change to the brain. Such change ensures that a weakness for substance abuse, once formed always stays. A weakness such as this can only be managed with abstinence and psychological therapy.

When coming out of our medical detox in McAllen, it's important to quickly choose a strategy for relapse prevention in McAllen, and commit to it. One of the first things that you learn is the process by which a relapse occurs. It involves a number of steps.

Relapse Stages

The greatest change caused by prolonged exposure to drugs or alcohol occurs in the learning and reward centers of the brain — these areas of the brain connect substance abuse with positive feelings in ways that cannot be unlearned. Post rehab, these brain centers begin a drift away from their connection to substance abuse. Sometimes, however, the process fails, and the mind begins to crave use again.

Relapses are not sudden. Instead, they are a slow and imperceptible process. It is important to identify and recognize this process. The earlier a relapse is caught, the more effective treatment programs in McAllen are likely to be.

The emotional stage: When the mind begins to slip in its resolve, it usually shows in the form of unpredictable emotions. You may suffer from mood swings, unpredictable sleep patterns, anger or anxiety, and a tendency to withdrawal and secretiveness. Anytime that you recognize these signs, rushing to professional rehab assistance can help.

The mental stage: When neglected at the emotional stage, relapse will progress to the mental stage, one where fond thoughts of returning to drug use show up in the form of daydreams, or a desire to be around friends who are use. While it can be difficult to stop a relapse at this stage, going in as early as this can help make the process of recovery much shorter.

The physical stage: If treatment isn't sought earlier, a full-blown relapse occurs. Strong urges to begin use show up, accompanied with negative feelings about abstinence. At this stage, it can be hard to stop falling into old habits. Not all is lost, however. Seeking rehab early can greatly help.

Participate in Programs for Relapse Prevention in McAllen

In the brain of the recovering addict, a tendency to relapse is an ever-present one. The greater the investment made in relapse prevention programs, the more adept the mind becomes at fighting the war against relapse. Relapse prevention therapy or RPT is primarily a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy, and is the primary line of defense against relapse.

In therapy, a therapist works with you to help you focus on your thoughts and beliefs in various areas. The process helps show you how the various ways in which your thinking style effects the way that you review temptation and strength. The more you learn, the more adept your mind becomes at resisting tendencies towards substance abuse. Once you learn enough about your cognitive style, behavioral therapy can help in the process of learning new, healthy habits. Greater motivation, self-esteem, and skills at delaying gratification are all results of therapy.

Working with an experienced counselor, you also learn about situations, mental states and experiences that may act as triggers for drug abuse, and internalize a system on how to avoid places, people, emotional states and so on that could create conditions for a return to substance abuse.

If you don't really understand the concept of drug relapse prevention yet, know that you aren't alone. Many rehabs in most patients do not do well grasping its significance. Finding rehab that does should be an important part of your plan to stay sober.

You should call us at our center for relapse prevention in McAllen to chat with some of her experts. Understanding what relapse prevention treatment does can be immensely helpful. Call us today at {telelphoneformatted}}.