Relapse Prevention Worksheets
Our relapse prevention worksheet helps your client maintain sobriety. Designed to empower, motivate, and educate, this tool will give your client the coping skills they need.
Fact Checked by RJ Gumban.
What is a Relapse Prevention Worksheet?
Managing relapse prevention is a critical component of working with clients who are experiencing drug and/or alcohol addiction. Most individuals will experience their addiction and their recovery in unique ways, but avoiding relapse is typically a universal strategy, as preventing relapses is one of the most important parts of a sustainable recovery. A typical strategy to enforce relapse prevention involves the therapist and their client sitting down and developing a plan. Clients are usually aware of certain triggers that increase the likelihood of relapsing, and how these can and should be avoided. In addition to being aware of triggers, it is important for clients to consider what the consequences will be if they relapse. For recovery to be long-lasting, clients have to be committed – and the best way to ensure commitment is to encourage clients to reflect on the impacts that using has on their life.
To help clients in this process of recovery, we have designed a relapse prevention worksheet. It encourages both planning and reflection, enabling clients to remain vigilant and continue working toward their goals. The worksheet is intuitive and easily used, and will prove greatly beneficial for therapists who are treating clients with addiction.
Printable Relapse Prevention Worksheets
Download these Relapse Prevention Worksheets to assist your clients in achieving their goals and desired treatment outcomes.
How To Use This Relapse Prevention Worksheet
Fortunately, implementing this worksheet into your practice is extremely easy – provided you follow these steps.
Step One: Save the template
Naturally, the first thing you need to do is access and save the worksheet. There is a link to the PDF copy a little further down this page, alongside a completed relapse prevention worksheet example. If you click on this link the template will open in your device’s PDF reader, and from there you can download and save it.
Step Two: Patient to complete the worksheet
The second step involves your client completing the form. Because relapsing is a constant possibility, it is recommended that your client completes the worksheet as early as possible. The worksheet has been designed to be completed primarily by the client, but you may find they need some assistance and/or support while they write their responses.
Step Three: Store somewhere secure
These worksheets contain confidential patient information and as such, need to be stored in a HIPAA-compliant way. You can either store your completed worksheets in a physical location with security or use an online EHR platform. Both of these options are fine, provided there are adequate safeguards in place. We also recommend ensuring that the storage location can be easily accessed as it is encouraged that you review and reflect on completed worksheets.
Step Four: Review worksheets
During a client’s treatment process, it is a good idea to regularly review their relapse prevention worksheet. The client’s support system may have changed, as well as their motivations and perceived consequences of relapsing. Whenever there are any significant changes to your client’s life, you may even request they complete a new relapse prevention worksheet to ensure it is as effective as possible.
Relapse Prevention Worksheet Example (Sample)
We understand that sometimes the best way to learn how a resource works is to see it in action. This is why we’ve included a sample completed template with possible responses just below. There is also a link to the PDF template, so you can get straight to downloading the worksheet if you so wish.
Download these Relapse Prevention Examples (Sample) here:
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Who Can Use this Printable Relapse Prevention Worksheets (PDF)?
This worksheet has been designed to be used by healthcare practitioners treating clients with addiction issues. It is often the case that these patients will be struggling with either alcohol or drug addiction, and are actively incorporating relapse prevention strategies in their life. The specific kinds of healthcare practitioners that may be treating these clients include:
- Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselors
- Group Counselors
- Mental Health Therapists
- Psychologists
- Psychotherapists
- Psychiatrists
- Social Workers
- Nurses
Why is This Form Useful for Addiction Counselors?
If you choose to implement this worksheet into your practice, you will notice a range of different uses, including the following:
Show your clients that they are supported
Self-worth and self-esteem are important factors when it comes to clients maintaining their sobriety. This worksheet highlights the specific client’s support system, emphasizing the fact that they have people who care for and support them. Encouraging clients to reflect on this type of support will hopefully be an effective method of encouraging relapse prevention.
Guidance for therapists
The information included on a completed relapse prevention worksheet will be collected from the patient, hopefully ensuring it is as honest and transparent as possible. Therapists can use this data to inform their treatment plan and guide the content of sessions.
Go paperless
An additional use of this worksheet is its ability to help your practice go paperless. The template can be accessed, saved, shared, and completed entirely online, eliminating any printing-related costs. In addition to being environmentally advantageous, going paperless can also be extremely helpful in improving organization.
Why Use Carepatron For Relapse Prevention Worksheet Software?
Investing in Carepatron’s practice management software is one of the best decisions you can make for your healthcare business. Carepatron has this relapse prevention worksheet in its resource library, alongside a vast range of other tools and templates. Carepatron can also store completed worksheets on their HIPAA-compliant platform, helping to ensure that client privacy is kept protected at all times. If you are looking for ways to increase patient engagement through using this worksheet, then Carepatron may have some other options for you. With a secure client portal that displays payment, appointment, and medical information, Carepatron encourages clients to become more involved in their own care. While these are some of the platform’s highlights, it would be remiss of us not to mention that they also have the following tools:
- Appointment scheduling and workflow management
- Clinical documentation and note-taking features
- Automated appointment reminders to help you eliminate no-shows
- Medical billing and coding automation, reducing claim rejections and denials
- Mobile health features, including secure video conferencing.
Commonly asked questions
You can decide when you want to use a relapse prevention worksheet. Most clients will have a relapse plan in place, and this resource can work very well alongside it to enforce relapse prevention. We recommend distributing the worksheet to your clients as early into the treatment process as possible, to ensure the greatest results.
The relapse prevention worksheet is separated into different sections, each of which asks the client to consider different aspects of their recovery and the potential outcomes of a relapse. The order in which clients respond to these questions is entirely up to them and although we recommend they answer every prompt, there may be some areas they feel uncomfortable with or unprepared for.
As we mentioned, the relapse prevention worksheet has been designed to be completed by clients. This is to ensure that the answers are as reflective of the client’s experience as possible so that the corresponding treatment plan will be effective.
