Recovery · Relapse Prevention
Abstinence Violation Effect Worksheet
The 'I already blew it, might as well' cascade — interrupted in the first hour
AVE — the "I already blew it, might as well" cascade after a slip that turns one drink into a three-week binge. The lapse is not the relapse; the AVE thinking is what turns one into the other.
A slip I've had (recent or past)
The AVE thoughts that showed up ('I'm hopeless', 'What's the point', 'Just this weekend')
Reframes to rehearse now, use later
- A slip is a lapse, not a relapse — unless I decide it is
- One drink of data > one week of drinking
- The path back to sober is one action, not one 'restart' date
- I don't need to be perfect — I need to interrupt fast
My AVE-interrupt plan — what I do in the first hour after a slip
A lapse ends when you decide it ends
You get to decide, in the next hour, whether this becomes a two-day story or a two-month one.