By implementing certain strategies, people can develop resilience, self-compassion, and adaptive coping skills to counteract the effects of the AVE and maintain lifelong sobriety. The AVE describes the negative emotional response that often accompanies a failure to maintain abstinence from drugs or alcohol. The Abstinence Violation Effect is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a person experiences abstinence violation effect relapse after attempting to abstain from drug or alcohol use. Ark Behavioral Health offers 100% confidential substance abuse assessment and treatment placement tailored to your individual needs. In a study by McCrady evaluating the effectiveness of psychological interventions for alcohol use disorder such as Brief Interventions and Relapse Prevention was classified as efficacious23.
Relapse Prevention (RP) is another well-studied model used in both AUD and DUD treatment (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985). In its original form, RP aims to reduce risk of relapse by teaching participants cognitive and behavioral skills for coping in high-risk situations (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985). More recent versions of RP have included mindfulness-based techniques (Bowen, Chawla, & Marlatt, 2010; Witkiewitz et al., 2014). The RP model has been studied among individuals with both AUD and DUD (especially Cocaine Use Disorder, e.g., Carroll, Rounsaville, & Gawin, 1991); with the largest effect sizes identified in the treatment of AUD (Irvin, Bowers, Dunn, & Wang, 1999).
It is, however, most commonly used to refer to a resumption of substance-use behavior after a period of abstinence from substances (Miller, 1996). The term relapse may be used to describe a prolonged return to substance use, whereas lapsemay be used to describe discrete,… Most importantly, 12-step programs tend to be abstinence-based, emphasizing that an authentic or high-quality recovery depends on abstaining completely from drugs and alcohol. Furthermore, 12-step programs often celebrate abstinence milestones and encourage participants to count abstinent days, leading to a perception that someone who resumes substance use is “going back to the beginning” and has not made progress in recovery. There are many relapse prevention models used in substance abuse treatment to counter AVE and give those in recovery important tools and coping skills.
Additionally, some groups target individuals with co-occurring psychiatric disorders (Little, Hodari, Lavender, & Berg, 2008). Important features common to these groups include low program barriers (e.g., drop-in groups, few rules) and inclusiveness of clients with difficult presentations (Little & Franskoviak, 2010). In sum, research suggests that achieving and sustaining moderate substance use after treatment is feasible for between one-quarter to one-half of individuals with AUD when defining moderation as nonhazardous drinking. While there is evidence that a subset of individuals who use drugs engage in low-frequency, non-dependent drug use, there is insufficient research on this population to determine the proportion for whom moderation is a feasible treatment goal. However, among individuals with severe SUD and high-risk drug or alcohol use, the urgency of reducing substance-related harms presents a compelling argument for engaging these individuals in harm reduction-oriented treatment and interventions. It is important to highlight that most of the studies cited above did not provide goal-matched treatment; thus, these outcomes generally reflect differences between individuals with abstinence vs. non-abstinence goals who participated in abstinence-based AUD treatment.
The assumption of RP is that it is problematic to expect that the effects of a treatment that is designed to moderate or eliminate an undesirable behaviour will endure beyond the termination of that treatment. Further, there are reasons to presume a problem will re-emerge on returning to the old environment that elicited and maintained the problem behaviour; for instance, forgetting the skills, techniques, and information taught during therapy; and decreased motivation5. Another example is Taylor, who has been doing a wonderful job taking walks and engaging in healthier eating. Taylor uses an app to watch her intake of calorie limit and does see positive outcomes to her new lifestyle. We would like to know what GOAL you have chosen for yourself about using alcohol at this time…Pick only one of the following goals.