Recovering from alcohol and drug addiction is not a passive experience. You must invest a great deal of effort into your treatment and when you return home, remaining vigilant is key. Alcohol and drug addiction is a chronic disease, which means that you are prone to relapse when you least expect it. Here are a few tips to help you make the transition and stay clean.

Have a plan. Before you leave The Canyon, you will work with relapse prevention either one on one or in your therapy groups to help you brainstorm about the possible situations you could come up against and how to handle each one successfully. This is your plan; you plan not only for the possibilities but for how you will handle these possibilities so that when you are tempted to pick up a drink or take a drug when you return home, you won't draw a blank.

Stay healthy. This means visiting a family doctor and a dentist regularly for checkups, eating well, exercising regularly, getting good sleep each night and continuing any work you started at The Canyon in yoga and meditation. Make sure you take vitamins and get the nutrients you need, do cardiovascular exercise regularly as well as muscle toning, stay hydrated by drinking lots of water, and basically keeping your stress level low. When you're healthy and calm, you're better equipped to handle anything that comes your way, including 'triggering' situations that make you want to relapse.

Keep up the good habits you started. At The Canyon, you will enjoy regular support group sessions, one-on-one therapy and any number of art and adventure therapies designed to help you return to your spiritual center, know yourself better and remember that you are a person with dreams and goals. Why not continue these things when you return home? Of course, you won't have time for the therapeutic schedule you designed at The Canyon when you return to your family and career, but finding a therapist to meet with weekly, attending support groups or developing your interest in outdoor skills or painting will help you continue the good work you started while you were in drug treatment.

Whether you choose to take an art class or find a local religious organization to further explore your spiritual center, don't forget to make social events a part of your plan after drug rehab. Meet new people, make new acquaintances. There's no pressure. Just make sure that you don't isolate yourself. This, too, can be a trigger to return to drug and alcohol use.
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