A relapse prevention plan is something that you can write down that will offer you the best chance of reducing the risk of relapse.
In it you include:
- Your relapse signature
- What you can do at each stage to cope
- Any life or psychosocial events that you feel may have triggered you in the past
- A list of people you can turn to for support either by phone, email or within communities
It is important to have documented this and to stick to it because at the time we can get so caught up in the ‘feeling’ that we fail to action any ‘thinking’ and this can lead to us engaging in the very type of behaviour we were trying so hard to avoid. I found myself becoming very ‘hard of thinking about my drinking’ when a relapse was on the horizon either because I was overwhelmed, or I didn’t want to do it differently, for whatever reason. Drinking felt almost ‘hard wired’.
Support for me has been the single biggest factor in keeping me on the sober path. I talk to Mr HOF, I blog on here, I read and comment on others sober blogs, I hang out in sober communities whether it be here in the wider public sober blogging community, or whether in more private communities such as Soberistas, or the Booze Free Brigade on Yahoo, or any other kind of community. You could attend an AA meeting or organise outpatient support through your GP if that is available.
Recovery is hard and can feel very lonely at times. It can begin to feel like a relapse is inevitable, but it isn’t. We always have a choice to pick up or not pick up a drink and I hope that these posts have added to your sober toolkit for the next time wolfie comes a-whispering in your ear 
Are there other sober tools I should add to my toolkit to make a relapse preventable?
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