What Are Tips for Maintaining My Sobriety When I'm Faced with Temptation?

To maintain sobriety when faced with temptation, plan around your triggers, use behavioral replacement therapy, and send loving kindness to those in your life. Watch psychotherapist Mike Dow, PsyD, share these strategies for resisting temptation.

Transcript

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are three simple tips to maintain sobriety when

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you are faced with temptation. First, always remember that failing to plan is planning to fail.

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So if you are traveling, that means looking up the meetings in the new city before you go.

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It means making an appointment, a phone call time, with your sponsor, so that you're not left traveling and unprepared.

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If you're food addict, it means whenever you're going someplace where you're going to be tempted, whether it's a holiday party or Super Bowl party, of eating

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a healthy meal beforehand so that you are not going to be triggered. Second, use behavioral replacement therapy.

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That is a really fancy way for saying, focus more on what you add to your life rather than what you are taking away.

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I want you to come up with a list of the five healthy behaviors that you do that make you feel better when you are feeling angry, upset, sad,

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lonely. Or you feel a trigger coming on. Or you feel that urge to drink.

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If you have that go-to list-- for me, even when I travel, I have a yoga class that I can listen to on my phone.

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So I can do a yoga class in my hotel room. That's one of mine. What is yours? What is that thing that you can turn to?

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Five simple, easy behaviors. Maybe it's something as simple as taking a walk or taking a hot shower, so you can

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use that instead of relapsing. Third, lovingkindness. Even if you worked your four step,

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I want you to do this simple exercise with me in 20 seconds. Close your eyes. Picture somebody in your mind's eye who you love,

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who is always there for you, who is always supporting you. Send them lovingkindness from your heart.

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And now second, in your mind's eye, picture somebody who it's difficult to love sometimes.

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Maybe it's a family member you've had disagreements with. And I want you to send them the same lovingkindness as you sent that first person.

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And finally, I want you to now picture yourself. And I want you to send, with the same intensity,

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the lovingkindness that you just sent those two people. And I want you to bathe in your own lovingkindness

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so that you can learn to be kinder, gentler with yourself. You'll feel better as a result.