Understanding relapse prevention is extremely important for those in recovery. Recovery takes time, and different stages of recovery present new challenges and stressors. New routines, new environments, building healthy relationships, managing emotions, staying connected to support systems, setting boundaries, scheduling your time—these are a few examples of the work that goes into long-term recovery.
The Genesis Process is an excellent faith-based recovery resource that provides several descriptions of recovery. A few descriptions of recovery given are:
“Recovery is a process of identifying your fears and moving toward resolving them. This process restores your ability to trust, love, and respond appropriately. The bottom line of recovery is learning to trust again.”
“Remember, recovery is to return to the person you were before the damage took place.”
“The biblical word for recovery is restoration.”
When an individual is in a recovery/restoration mindset, certain markers are observable. Restoration is a space where trust increases, gratitude is more readily experienced, and one is willing to accept life on God’s terms. Maintaining restoration involves developing a healthy emotional state, which requires healthy life patterns and routines. If there is no plan in place to prevent relapse and support emotional regulation, challenges will arise for those in recovery.
The FASTER Scale is a great tool from The Genesis Process. The FASTER Scale was designed to address both relapse prevention and emotional regulation, equipping those in recovery with an action plan and a way to conduct regular emotional check-ins for themselves.
“FASTER is a recovery-tested tool for spotting the warning signs that come before a relapse — long before. Each letter is a stage, with concrete behaviors to recognize in yourself.”
Overview of The FASTER Scale:
Forgetting Priorities
(start believing the present circumstances and start moving away from trusting God; denial; flight; a change in what's important; how you spend your time and what you think about)
Anxiety
(a growing noise of undefined fear; getting energy from emotions)
Speeding Up
(trying to outrun the anxiety, which is usually the first sign of depression)
Ticked Off
(getting an adrenaline high from anger and aggression)
Exhausted
(loss of physical and emotional energy; coming off the adrenaline high, onset of depression)
Relapse
(returning to the place you swore you would never go again)
The FASTER Scale is effective because it helps individuals become more self-aware and better manage difficult emotions and situations. Identifying where you are on the scale is only one part of how The FASTER Scale is useful. One does not end up at the “E” of the scale without first having experienced all the others. It can all be traced back to the beginning, which is Forgetting Priorities.
To return to a healthier mindset, the concept of facing a ‘double bind’ comes into play. All compulsive and self-destructive behavior involves a double bind. A double bind is when you find yourself in a lose/lose situation. It is when the thing you need the most is also the thing you fear the most. A double bind places you between two options. Either face the difficult emotion or situation and work towards addressing it, or continue down the scale, which eventually leads to relapse — a returning to the place I didn’t want to go to again.
For example, if I take the risk and expose my secrets (trusting others), they will reject me or gossip. If I don’t ask for help, I will stay stuck and isolated. Staying stuck in the middle of a lose/lose situation produces feelings of anger, frustration, hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and fear. These are the very emotions that coping behaviors anesthetize.
Stagnation is staying stuck in the middle of a double bind.
Resolving double binds is the key for change. (The Genesis Process)
Procrastination, confusion, and denial can be symptoms of double binds. They can protect you from taking action towards your fears. As double binds progress, so do coping behaviors. Resolving a double bind requires support and accountability in naming the fear and the belief system that supports it. The result is recovery.
Resolving double binds can cure confusion and prevent a relapse. Becoming aware of and naming the fears in a double bind can enable you to make new choices. You can respond rather than react. Moving toward your fear is what the Bible calls a step of faith. Faith usually involves fear. Simply making a choice to act can reduce the power of double binds and the negative symptoms they produce.
In order to make the right choices, apply the formula:
If you do the right thing, God will bless it. Doing the right thing is usually the hard thing. Doing the right thing results in a clear conscience and restores your ability to have open, honest relationships with God and others. If, on a regular basis, you identify and work toward resolving double binds, your chances of relapse are almost nonexistent.
At Jericho Road Ministries, one of our recovery classes goes over The FASTER Scale. It educates our residents about relapse prevention and restoration. We also provide a more in-depth study for individuals who are struggling with thoughts about relapse or have relapsed. This tool is very helpful for residents to become more self-aware and address challenging emotions or stressful situations.
Warning Signs of Relapse - class excerpt
Anxiety
The Behavioral Shift: Fear replaces faith. Because you stopped investing in your spiritual foundation, you begin to feel exposed and unprotected against life's pressures.
Warning Signs: Perfectionism, judging others to feel superior, mind-reading ("Everyone hates me"), rigid control, and physical sleep disturbances.
Scripture: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
The Recovery Angle: Anxiety is a signal that you are trying to operate on your own power instead of the Holy Spirit. You are trying to control outcomes that belong to God.
The Turnaround Action: Practice Surrender on Paper. Write down every single thing causing you fear. Physically draw a box around the things you cannot control, hand them to God in prayer, and erase them from your daily to-do list.
If you can recognize that your state of mind is shifting from, say, anxiety to speeding up, this early realization gives you the confidence to pause, evaluate, and identify what issue I am not addressing. This early realization can help to prevent relapse and return you to a healthy state of mind.
If you are experiencing overwhelming life circumstances or know someone who needs help, we encourage you to learn more about The Faster Scale, find support, or reach out to us. Our recovery program is open to men and women who want to break free from substance dependency. We are here to walk alongside each person, offering the support, tools, and hope they need to rebuild their lives, one step at a time. → www.jericho-road.net/recovery
The FASTER Scale is now available as an App. This is a great tool for anyone in recovery as well as for those who are managing chronic stress, burnout, or anxiety.
To learn more about The Genesis Process and The FASTER Scale, visit https://www.genesisprocess.org/faster-scale-app
