Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention is a cognitive-behavioral approach developed to reduce the likelihood or severity of a return to problematic behavior after a person has reduced or stopped it. In addiction research, the model treats relapse as a process influenced by high-risk situations, coping responses, expectations, and what happens after an initial setback .¹

A central element is identifying situations in which the risk of returning to the target behavior is elevated and strengthening coping responses and self-efficacy for those situations. The approach therefore focuses not only on avoiding risk but also on how the person responds when risk or a setback occurs .¹

Relapse prevention also distinguishes a lapse from a more sustained relapse. A limited return to the previous behavior does not automatically have to become a prolonged return, so the response to a lapse is an important part of the model. Relapse prevention is a structured framework for managing risk and setbacks, not a guarantee that relapse will never occur .^1,2