If your life was a garden, your negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviours would be the weeds. Your positive emotions, compassionate mindset and adaptive behaviours would be the flowers. Therapy helps you find and dig up the weeds and learn how to care for and nurture the flowers. But, from time to time, the weeds will inevitably return. This is a nature and it is normal. So long as you consciously choose to attend to the weeds (negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviours) when they show up, you will continue to thrive and bloom.

LAPSE V RELAPSE: what’s the difference?

I define a lapse in symptoms as a relatively brief return to old and unhelpful (cognitive or behavioural) habits. Lapses are normal and should be expected. So long as you are equipped with the knowledge and tools to address a lapse efficiently and effectively you should be able to get back on track quite quickly. Managing a lapse proficiently, reduces the chances of relapse; which is defined as a more prolonged and significant return to old habits.

how CAN I BEST prevent relapse?

Therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (also known as CBT) typically focus on ‘relapse prevention’ towards the end of a course of therapy. This typically involves:

identifying potential triggers of lapse/relapse
awareness of early warning signs of lapse/relapse
reflection on the most effective strategies you have learned in therapy
an action plan of how to implement these strategies to “nip relapse in the bud’

A good relapse prevention plan will guide you in knowing what you should do, and what you should not do, to maintain your therapeutic gains. It should support you in knowing how to best manage a lapse, therefore reducing the likelihood of experiencing relapse.

“I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it”
- Anonymous

DEVELOP A RELAPSE PREVENTION TOOLKIT

I help my clients develop strategies to manage or combat their target problems. Some will resonate, some will not. I suggest only holding on to the ones which work for you. Store them in a metaphorical ‘toolkit’ so that you can come back to them later, as needed. I recommend re-visiting your toolkit from time-to-time, just to refresh your memory of what has been most helpful to you. That way, you are armed and ready, should the need arise to use any of your tools.

BE A PSYCHOLOGICAL GARDENER

So just like real gardens, psychological gardens also need consistent attention to keep the weeds at bay. Regularly attending to and addressing negative feelings, thoughts and behaviours when they show up, will ensure you benefit from therapy long after your final session has ended.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THERAPY SESSIONS?

If you’re interested in learning more, these articles might be useful:

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