Step 1A: The Truth About Relapse

Sadly, until fairly recently, most mental health practitioners have not addressed the inconvenient truth of relapse. They simply ignored the probability of relapse as though it didn’t exist. It seems far more flattering to end a research study or treatment program on success for a week. Flattering, yes. Realistic, never.

Prior to the 1990s, most self-help and treatment programs did not even address how to respond to a single slip or a full relapse. The conventional wisdom of that time held that such discussion might inadvertently encourage slips or might create a self-fulfilling prophecy: Merely talking about relapse would promptly encourage it.

We are much wiser now, and understand the opposite to be true. Avoiding discussions about inevitable blunders leaves self-changers anxious, unprepared, and more likely to grope in the darkness.

Fortunately, the pioneering research of the late Dr. Alan Marlatt of the University of Washington and other psychologists can direct us in minimizing our tendency to misstep. We can now all learn the skills of managing slips and preventing relapse.

How do you perceive relapse? Are the perceptions of those around you different?