Practical techniques and strategies for maintaining sobriety
15 terms
Restores brain chemical balance disrupted by chronic drinking, reducing post-acute withdrawal symptoms like insomnia and anxiety. Taken three times daily, acamprosate helps maintain abstinence by stabilizing brain function without causing sickness if relapse occurs.
A structured therapy teaching patients to identify and change thought patterns leading to drinking. CBT helps develop coping strategies, manage triggers, and prevent relapse by replacing self-defeating thoughts with healthier responses to stress and cravings.
Medically supervised withdrawal from alcohol, managing dangerous symptoms like seizures and delirium tremens. Detox typically lasts 3-7 days, providing medications, monitoring, and preparation for ongoing treatment while clearing alcohol from the body safely.
Causes severe nausea, vomiting, and headache when alcohol is consumed, creating powerful deterrent to drinking. This daily medication requires careful medical supervision and works best for motivated patients seeking additional relapse prevention tools.
The recovery community formed around support groups like AA, creating social connections beyond formal meetings. Fellowship provides sober friendships, activities, and a new social network replacing drinking relationships, crucial for long-term recovery success.
A regular recovery meeting that an individual commits to attend consistently, building relationships and accountability. Members take service positions, share openly, and create a stable foundation for long-term recovery through familiarity and belonging.
Residential programs providing 24-hour medical and therapeutic care, typically lasting 28-90 days. Patients live at treatment facilities receiving intensive therapy, medical monitoring, and structured recovery education away from drinking environments and triggers.
Combines FDA-approved medications with counseling to treat alcohol use disorder, reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms. MAT addresses brain chemistry changes from chronic drinking, improving treatment engagement and reducing relapse risk when combined with behavioral therapies.
Regular gatherings where people in recovery share experiences, strength, and hope to maintain sobriety. Meetings follow structured formats including speaker sharing, step study, or discussion, creating peer support networks essential for recovery maintenance.
A counseling approach that helps people resolve ambivalence about changing drinking behavior through collaborative conversation. Therapists guide patients to identify their own motivations for sobriety, strengthening commitment to change rather than imposing external pressure.
A medication blocking alcohol's pleasurable effects, reducing cravings and rewarding sensations from drinking. Available as daily pills or monthly injections, naltrexone helps maintain sobriety by making alcohol less appealing if relapse occurs.
Programs allowing patients to live at home while attending therapy sessions several times weekly. Outpatient offers flexibility for work and family responsibilities while providing counseling, education, and support groups for maintaining sobriety.
Alcohol-free group homes requiring abstinence and often 12-step participation, bridging treatment and independent living. Residents share responsibilities, attend meetings, and support each other while gradually transitioning to normal life with accountability.
An experienced recovery program member who guides newcomers through the Twelve Steps, sharing personal experience and providing support. Sponsors offer one-on-one mentorship, accountability, and practical advice for navigating early sobriety while maintaining their own recovery.
A structured recovery program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous that guides members through admitting powerlessness over alcohol, examining past errors, making amends, and helping others. The steps provide a spiritual framework for personal transformation and sustained sobriety through daily practice and peer support.