Relapse Prevention Plan

Sophie has decided to not see her counsellor. I partly understand. She wants to be normal like her peers, she doesn’t want to miss school and she wants to have a break. I also understand she doesn’t want to delve any deeper for now. I am also trying to not worry and hope that she travels through this OK. We really only now have the psychiatrist left and that’s mainly because of the medication. She is steering and floating her own recovery boat on the final (hopefully) stage to shore.Her counsellor put together a Relapse Prevention Plan to hopefully give her some structure and a plan if things go wrong. I am sharing it with everyone because, as usual, our counsellor does this so well it is a shame to keep it just for ourselves.1. Sophie  will monitor the following:a. Mood – depression and anxietyb. Eating – restricting and overeatingc. Known stressful events – e.g. exams, holidays, social events2. A small variance in these things is ok:a. Mood – e.g. listening to the odd sad song, or listening to sad songs for an evening if you’re feeling flat.b. Eating – e.g. occasional shifts in eating that would be considered ‘normal’ (by me )c. Stressful events – e.g. ‘normal’ levels of arousal about a stressful event, the same as others would feel in the same situation – butterflies in  your tummy before an exam for example.3. A big variance in these things is not ok:a. Mood – e.g. wallowing for days at a time, spending too much time asleep or in bed, black thoughts, feeling more down than upb. Eating – e.g. ED voice getting loud and being tempted to go with it, changing eating beahviours purposefully or allowing abnormal eating patterns to return.c. Stressful events – e.g. anxiety that is overwhelming and prohibits you from doing what you need to do, panic attack.4. Healthy Behaviours that help to keep things on track:a. Exerciseb. Art/music/doing things for enjoymentc. Enforcing relaxation time, particularly during stressful events like exam periodsd. Not wallowing – knowing the danger periods and choosing to do something different (this one is v v v v v v v important)e. Getting enough sleepf. Balanced healthful dietg. Taking medication5. What to do if things are getting trickya. Think about what I might say to you if we were to talk, then DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, oops, sorry, didn’t mean to shout b. Use distraction techniques you have learnedc. Keep socially connected, don’t hunker down in your roomd. See Item 4e. Look critically at your self-talk – is there a different way of seeing the situation? Is there a more helpful way of seeing the situation?f. Write your thoughts down and use your Wise Mind… what would a wise version of you say to help you get through?g. Talk to mumh. Email or call me and we will have an extra appointment.