In 2002, an ad hoc group of MCES staff put together a self-help booklet for our COD patients. “My Action Plan for Relapse Prevention” or “MAP” for short, offered worksheets on recognizing triggers, building problem-solving skills, identifying supports, understanding spirituality, and more.

Resumption of substance use can lead to recurrence of psychiatric symptoms and rehospitalization, often on an involuntary basis. Patients took MAP home as part of their aftercare plan. Over many years, hundreds patients participated in MAP educational groups.

We still have a “MAP Room” but MAP was supplanted by our OARS (Ongoing Abstinence Recovery Schedule) Program, is more structured self-help program that has proved to be effective in helping COD avoid readmissions.

Word about MAP apparently got around. We get several requests for copies every year from all over the US from providers and folks coping with COD. Recently two came from inmates at state prisons in California. One also asked if we could include a certificate to show MAP had been completed. We were happy to do so.