Addiction Recovery & Relapse Prevention

You’re on a well-worn path… it’s time for a new direction.

Have your brilliant solutions (chemical use, abuse, or addiction) become unsolvable problems?

Is life in steady decline?

Hitting a bottom?

It could be you’re like Jerry*.

Jerry faced a terrible place.

He was on probation at work. His wife nagged him all the time. She tells him, “I’ve had it with your drinking and lying! Quit drinking or else!”

When Jerry drinks, his booze of choice is vodka.

He noticed his kids stayed away when he was drinking.

Jerry tells himself he should be able to control his alcohol. So, he tries to control it, but it controls him. Again. And Again.

Out of desperation, Jerry reached out for help.

Recovery Counseling and Relapse Prevention Counseling can help!

We’re so glad you’re here.

There truly is hope. We know from first-hand experience.

We’ve spent years attending, experiencing, and leading 12-Step Recovery. Recovery is in our blood.

We live recovered lives, and you can do the same.

It is not too late!

It is never too late, unless you die.

There’s real help and real hope for real people struggling with chemical abuse or addiction.

The “we” on this page refers to me, Bill J. Carpenter, Sr, MS, LMFT, LPC and my son, Bill Jr., or BJ as everyone has always called him.

BJ is an Arkansas licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC). We spent years being enemies; now we are dear friends and professional associates.

We feel we have the right to say this bold statement about not being too late unless you die.

My precious adult daughter (BJ’s sister) died of a hydrocodone overdose when she was thirty-one.

My former wife, BJ’s mom, died of a fentanyl overdose four years later.

Some people die from abusing alcohol or chemicals. Let it not be you.

You do not have to die!

You can live again!

There are good reasons you overuse chemicals. There are good reasons your family or employer are protesting.

There are also good reasons you’re on this page.

Maybe you’re arriving at a place of honesty and acceptance that begins your journey into a new, different, and someday, better way of living.

Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), wrote in the Big Book that, “And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.”

As we accept our situation, we begin to create space in our hearts for a new way that can possibly restore us to our loved ones and them to us.

You’re safe here – this is a no shame, no blame zone.

It’s also a no B.S. zone. B.S. has never helped you. It cannot help you.

What’s happening underneath the chemical use?

Abusing chemicals like alcohol or drugs can create all kinds of personal and family chaos. Maybe at first, you navigate the growing chaos.

But over time, life becomes unmanageable.

Your best efforts to outplay, outwit, and outlast your surroundings probably leave you isolated from your Most Important Person – your loved one or ones.

Those closest to you begin telling you their truth. The drinking and/or drugging must stop!

It may not be your truth, but it’s their truth.

It’s our secrets that keep us sick.

The more you ignore their protests because of the lost connection, their protests become louder and more intense.

Their angry, accusing, maybe rage-filled protests sound like attacks.

You feel you’re under attacked. And it sucks!

The more they attack, the further away you go… they don’t get it!

You say, “Leave me alone!” or rage back. Life is awful for you right now.

If we’re correct, you may be in the best place, the most beautiful place. You may be ready now.

Are you ready for new, different, and someday, better?

Are you picking up what we’re laying down?

We’ll never call you an addict.

We’ll say you have an addiction, or you’re abusing, but not an addict.

No one wakes up and says, “Hey! I can’t wait to ruin my life today!”

People do not develop unhelpful behaviors because they’re stupid, lazy, or evil. In the beginning, people do the best they can with what they’ve got.

Often, today’s unsolvable problems started as brilliant solutions.

If the “solution” is taken away before solving the underlying problems, it can be dangerous.

Hanging on to the “solutions” until the underlying problems are solved is also dangerous.

Balance and the order of care are vital in the process of ending a destructive survival mechanism while
healing what lies beneath.

As safety grows, it is critical to answer the question, “What makes this make sense?”

Relapse Prevention Therapy

You deserve the help you need. You can do this, but you need a plan.

You probably know, relapse does not happen suddenly – it sneaks up on you.

We use the Gorski CENAPS Model of Relapse Prevention Therapy. It uses evidence-based practices to help you recover the life you long to live.

The main stages are:

1. Stabilization: it’s important to stabilize the person’s condition to ensure the success of relapse prevention therapy. The relapse should be in clear and sober state before embarking upon this therapy.
2. Assessment: under this stage, various patterns including past relapses are assessed to find covert causes behind them. The drug use history, alcoholism and life events of the relapse are also thoroughly studied. A comprehensive study of these factors may show the problems which lead the person to relapse.
3. Relapse Education: this stage engages the person and creates awareness about the relapse process. The core of this stage is to make the person understand relapse is not a failure. Further, we also emphasize relapse is entirely manageable. At this stage, Relapse Prevention Therapy can teach people to recognize the warning signs and the process to manage them.
4. Warning Sign Identification: the goal of this stage is to identify the issues which led to relapse. There are generally more than one warning signs. The confluence of such symptoms may push the person to go back to their addictive habits. It is imperative to recognize all the warning signs and reasons, no matter how trivial they look.
5. Warning Sign Management: once you’ve identified your warning signs, the next step is to learn to manage these signs, without resorting to drug abuse or alcohol. For this purpose, you’ll learn to take each signal into account. You’ll identify coping strategies for each sign.
6. Recovery Planning: this stage details out the recovery plan which involves regular interaction with rehabilitation specialists to ensure the person remains on the right track.
7. Inventory Process: involves recognition and management of warning signs while evening inventory reviews issues and progress.
8. Family Involvement: It is crucial to have a supportive family and friends. Such a support system may also protect the person against relapse by providing motivation and morale boost.
9. Follow Up: this is the final step in Gorski Relapse Prevention Therapy. As the therapy progresses, the warning signs may change. Generally, each stage of this process comes with its peculiar symptoms; this means that the relapse prevention plan should be updated accordingly.

Warning!

Advanced stage alcoholism and certain drug addictions require medically supervised detox before beginning recovery or relapse prevention. Do not doubt me. If in doubt, seek medical attention now!

Your life can be yours again.

If you would appreciate more information or want to schedule an appointment, we’re available at (501) 205-4570. We usually respond the same day, if not then, within 24 hours.

There is real hope for real people!