Plan of Mitigation to support Jed

A strategy for relapse prevention may be a powerful method for encouraging alcoholics to become safer. The strategy will promote the absence of drug use phase as it handles the urge for the substance (Ross & Cook, 2014). For example, the case of Jed's alcoholism includes a strategy for relapse prevention that will handle some of the risk factors he would face during the recovery program. This post, therefore, is Jed's plan to handle potential relapses.

Jed’s Personal Background:

Jed is a 38 years old, a husband to Emily and they have been marriage for eight years. They have two daughters. Jed and the wife, Emily, rarely sleep together in the same bed and they also argue a lot on his over-drinking. Jed acknowledges that he would be surprised to see his wife leave him but he is confident that they can have a stable marriage if he can quit drinking. Emily believes that her husband is alcoholic but Jed does not think so, and she calls him a “lousy father” when they are arguing. Jed’s dad was also an alcoholic and met his death because of his drinking habits, though, he feels that he is not becoming like him when his wife believes so. Even though Jed is not close to any of his family members, his wife and daughters are very close to his mother, and they even attend the same church every Sunday.        

The Client’s Statement of Agreement

Jed agreed to attend the AA meetings and be sponsored in regards to the court order, and he is also willing to give the group’s meeting some an additional shot after fulfilling the orders of the court. Jed has also accepted to attend a group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and a personal Relapse Prevention Therapy to assist him in the journey to sobriety and prevent him relapsing (Doweiko, 2015). He has also agreed to be open-minded in matters that relates family support because he acknowledges that they play a role in his recovery. 

Jed’s Relapse Plan

In the case of a relapse, Jed is supposed to take himself through the following steps;

1. Call his sponsor
2. Call the Interactive Voice Response
3. Apply some of the teachings that he learned from the Relapse Prevention Therapy and apply them; they may include; exercise, meditation, warning signs management and spiritual practice.

Family support in Jed’s Relapse Plan

Jed hopes that he can stop drinking; therefore, they can play a very crucial role in his relapse prevention plan. Hence, Jed should make the family members understand most of the warning signs and they can help him in managing some of them and get out of the alcohol. For instance, his wife could notice some of his overreaction as a result of the stress from his job or even with his chores at home. If his wife assist him in such situations by either encouraging to take a rest or to join him in doing some of the chores would be a great step to managing the warnings, therefore, she should be part of Jed’s recovery journey. There is also a need for Jed to get close to his family members, more so, his mother and the two daughters and his openness to attend church together with them can help him in gaining their support.

How Family Culture may impact the Plan

Being an Irish, it will be necessary for Jed to realize that this does not only describe him but could imply that partying with other Irish triggers his desire to drink again since, Irish drink a lot. Therefore, he should realize that he have to limit the number of times he meets with his Irish peers during his recovery process.

Some of the factors that can help in keeping Jed sober

During the lessons on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Jed will be trained on the cheap technology, known as, the Interactive Voice Response that can be importance to him on a daily basis (Doweiko, 2015). He will also access a toll-free phone number through which he undergoes some daily therapeutic questionnaire. The survey will assist him in discussing some coping skills that can be useful in minimizing alcohol. He will also be taken through an actual body exercise like body scan relaxation and get feedbacks from the therapist. If the exercise works, he will then continue with the use of the technology, but if it fails to achieve the intended goals, he will be taken through a different program. He will also learn about some of the reframing habit change during the Relapse Prevention Therapy and how such techniques are used in helping him to cope. It will also be essential that Jed finds a hobby he can be doing together with his friends apart from drinking. For instance, opting to play soccer on weekends or going home early during weekdays for a community BBQ.      

Some of the High-Risk Situations

If Jed is in a position to identify an effective coping strategy to help him when in high-risk situations, he has to increase his self-efficacy and also reduce his chances of relapsing. During the therapy program, he will also learn on how to cope with most of the high-risk situations so that whether any confronts him, it will find him ready and equipped to respond. For instance, one of his high-risk situations includes family gatherings and some of the post soccer meetings at bars and weeknights as alcohol is likely to be available in plenty in such places.

Some of the High-Risk Behaviors and thoughts that Jed needs to know

Jed needs to know that conflict within himself, negative emotions and some pressures of the society may increase his risk of relapsing by almost 75%. He also needs to know the warnings signs that are addressed by Ross and Cook (2014), in the Relapse Prevention Therapy and realize that a possible suffocation that he might feel when he does not drink and can become grumpy. Some of the issues that Jed can expect during the process may also include self-isolation emotionally and also physically, and he may also find himself blaming others for his past and also overreacting when in stressful situations. Therefore, such conditions can easily lead to a relapse when they are not adequately understood and managed; hence, he must be ready to address any of them by talking to his sponsor and be willing to share with his family on such feelings.

Preferred New Hobbies and Activities

Jed can engage himself in a new set of activities such as exercising before work with colleagues and then going for coffee. He can also enjoy watching football and some sports on weekends. Jed can create a tie and do some of the house chores and be watching movies. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that he stays away from alcohol. Additionally, Jed can also take advantage of some of the community resources that available such as attending church together with his family members as this help him grow spiritually. He can also create time to participate in the AA meetings and can as well do some outdoor volunteers during the times that he used to go for drinks on weeknights.

Who to call when in need of help:

Jed can always keep in touch with the following people whenever he needs help;

His Sponsor: (555) 3534765

The Counsellor: (555) 8974675

A Support Group Member: (555) 9897653

His sponsor will always help him recall some of the strategies to manage warnings, a counselor will assist in going through the therapeutic process, and a support member can help to reach any source of aid and inform the other officers so that they can give any needed support.

References

Doweiko, H. E. (2015). Concepts of chemical dependency. (9th Ed.). Stamford CT: Cengage Learning

Ross, R., & Cook, C. C. (2014). Maintenance and relapse prevention. Pearson.