PCN-501 Case Study Jed: Relapse Prevention Plan Jed is a 38-year-old welder who came into the treatment center after being arrested for drinking and driving (DUI/DWI). His attorney has suggested that he quit drinking and enter treatment, at least until his trial, which is scheduled to occur in two months. Jed does not anticipate serving jail time, but he believes that treatment could strengthen his legal case. After his first arrest for DUI two years ago, he simply paid a fine and attended a special driver's education program for six weeks. Jed found the program to be a “waste of time.” Jed has been married for 8 years and has two daughters, aged 8 and 6. He has had numerous arguments with his wife, Emily, concerning his drinking. He gets very angry and defensive when she confronts him about his heavy drinking and he asserts that he is not an alcoholic. He knows this is true because his father was an alcoholic and Jed says that he is not like his father. His father died as the result of a fight that occurred in traffic when he was drunk. Jed says that his father used to “beat the tar” out of him and his brother when he was drunk and that his father always belittled, taunted, and threatened their mother, whether he was drunk or sober. Jed references that his family is Irish and that it was cultural normal to drink and enjoy alcohol and that all of his family and relatives drink in excess. Jed's work history is very good; he misses less than one day per year. He works the day shift on weekdays, putting in time-and-a-half on most Saturdays. He is well regarded by his supervisors and peers at work. He is fearful that his employer will find out about his treatment (it is being covered by his HMO), and that people at work will learn about the second DUI arrest. Jed drinks with his buddies from the plant, and does not think that his drinking is any more than what they do. He was just “unlucky” and was caught doing what everyone else seems to get away with. Jed's drinking is very predictable: he drinks 8-9 beers on a weeknight. Several of these are consumed at the bar with friends, the remainder at home over the course of the evening. He usually falls asleep in front of the television. When he is not working on Saturdays, he often drinks several 12-packs between Friday and Sunday. A typical Saturday involves getting up at 10:00 a.m., playing soccer with friends, and going to the bar for the rest of the day and night. This pattern leads to arguments with Emily, who calls him a “lousy father.” At times, Jed has had unsettling episodes of being unable to recall what happened while drinking. He has commented to friends that “maybe I overdo it a bit.” Several times, he has attempted to cut down on his drinking, especially after the last DUI. He once attended a few AA meetings, but did not feel that AA was helpful: "It was listening to a lot of guys whining…" and he especially did not care for the prayers. Despite these attempts, Jed has experienced incr.

1. PCN-501 Case Study
Jed: Relapse Prevention Plan
Jed is a 38-year-old welder who came into the treatment center
after being arrested for drinking and driving (DUI/DWI). His
attorney has suggested that he quit drinking and enter treatment,
at least until his trial, which is scheduled to occur in two
months. Jed does not anticipate serving jail time, but he
believes that treatment could strengthen his legal case. After his
first arrest for DUI two years ago, he simply paid a fine and
attended a special driver's education program for six weeks. Jed
found the program to be a “waste of time.”
Jed has been married for 8 years and has two daughters, aged 8
and 6. He has had numerous arguments with his wife, Emily,
concerning his drinking. He gets very angry and defensive when
she confronts him about his heavy drinking and he asserts that
he is not an alcoholic. He knows this is true because his father
was an alcoholic and Jed says that he is not like his father. His
father died as the result of a fight that occurred in traffic when
he was drunk. Jed says that his father used to “beat the tar” out
of him and his brother when he was drunk and that his father
always belittled, taunted, and threatened their mother, whether
he was drunk or sober. Jed references that his family is Irish
and that it was cultural normal to drink and enjoy alcohol and
that all of his family and relatives drink in excess.
Jed's work history is very good; he misses less than one day per
year. He works the day shift on weekdays, putting in time-and-
a-half on most Saturdays. He is well regarded by his supervisors
and peers at work. He is fearful that his employer will find out
about his treatment (it is being covered by his HMO), and that

2. people at work will learn about the second DUI arrest.
Jed drinks with his buddies from the plant, and does not think
that his drinking is any more than what they do. He was just
“unlucky” and was caught doing what everyone else seems to
get away with. Jed's drinking is very predictable: he drinks 8-9
beers on a weeknight. Several of these are consumed at the bar
with friends, the remainder at home over the course of the
evening. He usually falls asleep in front of the television. When
he is not working on Saturdays, he often drinks several 12-
packs between Friday and Sunday. A typical Saturday involves
getting up at 10:00 a.m., playing soccer with friends, and going
to the bar for the rest of the day and night. This pattern leads to
arguments with Emily, who calls him a “lousy father.” At times,
Jed has had unsettling episodes of being unable to recall what
happened while drinking. He has commented to friends that
“maybe I overdo it a bit.” Several times, he has attempted to cut
down on his drinking, especially after the last DUI. He once
attended a few AA meetings, but did not feel that AA was
helpful: "It was listening to a lot of guys whining…" and he
especially did not care for the prayers.
Despite these attempts, Jed has experienced increased
consumption levels over the past 2 years. He admits that, as a
result of the drinking, he has become increasingly estranged
from his wife and daughters. Jed feels that his marriage has
been basically good, but that he would not blame Emily for
leaving him, the way things have been going lately. She will no
longer sleep with him while he is intoxicated, which occurs
regularly. She complains that the house is falling apart because
Jed does not keep up with his chores. He believes that his
marriage would become solid again, if he stopped overdoing the
drinking, but he complains about her hassling him about the
alcohol.
Jed is not close to his remaining family members. His mother is
very religious and wishes Jed would see religion as a way out of
his problems. His siblings live in other communities and they
rarely get together. His wife and daughters regularly attend his

3. mother's church, but Jed only attends on Christmas Eve and
Easter Sunday.
Jed is distraught about having to remain abstinent in preparation
for the trial. He has trouble getting to sleep without alcohol. He
also “gets jumpy” when he tries to stay away from drinking,
feeling “closed in or like he is suffocating.” Jed reports that he
is not used to socializing without alcohol and alcohol helps him
relax and be more social with people.
Jed is willing to go to AA meetings only because he knows they
may be court ordered and it may be better for his legal case. He
does struggle with the philosophy of AA. He does not like the
spirituality part of the program and does not like when people
talk about God.
He does believe that he can go to the bars with his friends and
not drink. He does think that he can increase his sports
activities to help him not drink although many of his friends
who play also drink.
References
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2005)
Case examples-
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Social/Teaching%20Case
%20Examples/Case%20Examples.html
© 2016. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.
© 2016. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.
PCN-501: Relapse Prevention Plan
Scoring Guide
Grading Category
Points
Comments

4. Relapse Prevention Plan fully includes all of Jed's key
information: client name, age/date of birth, date of plan, next
date of review, and a biopsychosocial summary.
0/5
Part 1: Relapse Prevention Plan fully includes at least three
harmful/destructive behaviors for Jed, along with the associated
rewards and consequences related to relapse and abstinence
behaviors.
0/15
Part 2: Relapse Prevention Plan fully explains the steps the
client has already taken to reduce the risk of relapse and the
client's agreement to abstain from substance use/misuse.
0/10
Part 2: Relapse Prevention Plan fully explains some high-risk
situations that may trigger a relapse for the client including
three specific situations that may lead to relapse.
0/10
Part 2: Relapse Prevention Plan fully explains some high-risk
behaviors or irrational thinking that may create the urge to
return to previous harmful behavior leading to relapse.
0/10
Part 3: Relapse Prevention Plan fully includes all items in a
relapse response plan: coping strategies, client's skills to
redirect thoughts, and immediate actions to take before using
substances.
0/15
Part 4: Relapse Prevention Plan fully describes the community
and support resources that are available to the client along with

5. identifying how often and the amount of support group meetings
the client will participate in (any type of recovery support
meeting) to improve health and sobriety.
0/10
Part 4: Relapse Prevention Plan fully identifies at least two
strategies the client can do to improve his family relationships
and describes how this is important to the success of the relapse
prevention plan.
0/10
Part 4: Relapse Prevention Plan fully describes how the ethnic
and cultural aspects of the client may impact the relapse
prevention plan.
0/10
Part 4: Relapse Prevention Plan fully develops an emergency
contact sheet that the client may carry with them. The contact
card includes a list of people and resources to have available to
use prior to a lapse or relapse to use substances.
0/10
Worksheet fully includes at least three scholarly resources
beyond the course textbook to support the responses.
0/5
Total
0/110
©2017. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.
PCN-501 Relapse Prevention Plan

6. Read the Jed case study and create a relapse prevention plan for
Jed. Keep in mind that you would typically create a relapse
prevention plan in collaboration with the client to ensure the
greatest chance for success; however, in this instance, you will
create one for Jed based on what you can glean from the case
study.
Client Name: __________________________ Age/Date of
Birth: _____________________
Date of Plan: __________________________ Next Date of
Review:* __________________
*This can be 30, 60, or 90 days.
Biopsychosocial Summary:
Provide a brief description of the client's presenting symptoms.
<Add the client's presenting symptoms here.>
Part 1: Harmful/Destructive Behaviors Chart
Complete the chart below by including a minimum of three
behaviors as well as associated rewards and consequences
related to relapse and abstinence behaviors.
Harmful/destructive behaviors that the client will need to avoid
to prevent a relapse
Possible rewards for not maintaining abstinence to prevent
relapse
Possible costs for returning to use and the associated
consequences
1.
1.
1.
2.
2.
2.
3.
3.
3.
Part 2: Current Risks of Relapse

7. In this section, you will identify the steps to reduce the risk of
relapse. Describe how you might assist Jed to identify high-risk
situations, and specific triggers leading to relapse.
1. What steps has the client already taken to reduce the risk of
relapse? What is the client’s agreement to abstain from
substance use/misuse?
2. What are some high-risk situations that may trigger a relapse
for the client? List three specific situations that may lead to
relapse.
3. What are some high-risk behaviors or irrational thinking that
may create the urge to return to previous harmful behavior
leading to relapse?
Part 3: Relapse Response Plan
In this section, you will create a response plan to use when the
client is faced with triggers and urges to lapse into using
behavior. Complete the chart below and include coping
strategies, client’s skills to redirect thoughts, and immediate
actions to take before using substances.
List three people that the client identifies for a supportive
network
List three new activities that increase coping skills and
strategies to assist in replacing high-risk thoughts and behaviors
List three actions for new activities the client indicates will be
taken if a pattern of negative behaviors emerges
1.
1.
1.
2.
2.
2.

8. 3.
3.
3.
Part 4: Continued Health and Well-Being
1. Describe community and support resources that are available
to the client. Identify how often and the amount of support
group meetings the client will participate in (any type of
recovery support meeting) to improve health and sobriety.
2. Identify at least two strategies the client can do to improve
his family relationships and describe how this is important to
the success of the relapse prevention plan?
3. Describe how the ethnic and cultural aspects of the client
may impact the relapse prevention plan?
4. Develop with the client an emergency contact sheet that the
client may carry with them. Create a contact card with the client
to list the people and resources to have available to use prior to
a lapse or relapse to use substances.
Client Signature
Date
Counselor Signature

9. © 2017. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.