If I happened to work in a setting where I was trying to help men maintain their sobriety after they left a twelve-step program, and I was constrained to a group therapy setting, I would try to work on hammering home a few distinct strategies. Ultimately, these would be men who had made significant progress. The facts also suggest that each was in the program voluntarily, which suggests that they actually have an interest in maintaining their progress. This makes things demonstrably easier and should help to shape my approach in trying to help these individuals. With that in mind, the following would be a major part of my approach.
Productive Thinking Strategies
One of the keys to helping these men is ensuring that they are intentional in their thinking. Part of the benefit of these programs is that it takes men out of the fog that can sometimes cloud their decision-making processes. This is the burden of addiction at the end of the day. I would work with them on strategies to keep them mindful of their activities. By the time they were finished with the program, they would be well-aware of the costs of their addiction.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Learning Response".
The key then would be to help them find ways to keep these costs in mind, so that they would be conscious for all of their decisions. I would also want to keep them mindful of the progress that they have made. While the negative consequences of their addiction can be a powerful force, keeping in mind the positives of maintaining their sobriety could be an even more powerful helper.
Instituting a Support System
It is critical to understand what it was about the program that helped the men make such good progress. Perhaps one of the most important factors was the fact that these men had a support system that allowed them to have success. That is something that they might not have once they leave the program. For those men who benefitted from being able to share their struggles and experiences with other men, what should be done? In this case, I would work hard with them to develop a kind of buddy accountability system. This might mean that men from the class who had a connection might continue to talk with one another to support the effort. It might also mean that men need to find accountability partners of their own. This might mean turning to a family member for support, or it might mean finding a friend in order to keep things on the straight and narrow.
Discussions of Trigger Behaviors
During the course of the program, the men might have been away from some of the stressors and triggers that caused their addiction to flare up. However, there should have probably been a discussion at some point about the things that make men turn to these vices. In preparation for allowing the men to go out on their own, there should be a discussion of what the triggers are and how to stay away from them. This might mean learning how to stay away from the wrong influences.
For some people, this could be certain family members, or it might even be old friends that would help to perpetuate the habit. In other cases, it might mean staying away from the places that would otherwise trigger negative behavior. By helping these individuals understand what things might push them back into addiction, I could help them practically make their experience easier, which is certainly a goal that we would want to achieve in this instance.
