Relapse prevention - An overview of Marlatt's cognitive-behavioral model

Relapse prevention (RP) is an important component of alcoholism treatment. The RP model proposed by Marlatt and Gordon suggests that both immediate de terminants (e.g., high-risk situations, coping skills, outcome expectancies , and the abstinence violation effect) and covert antecedents (e.g., lifest yle factors and urges and cravings) can contribute to relapse. The RP model also incorporates numerous specific and global intervention strategies tha t allow therapist and client to address each step of the relapse process. S pecific interventions include identifying specific high-risk situations for each client and enhancing the client's skills for coping with those situat ions, increasing the client's self-efficacy, eliminating myths regarding al cohol's effects, managing lapses, and restructuring the client's perception s of the relapse process. Global strategies comprise balancing the client's lifestyle and helping him or her develop positive addictions, employing st imulus control techniques and urge-management techniques, and developing re lapse road maps. Several studies have provided theoretical and practical su pport for the RP model.