Illness Management and Recovery / IMR-A08-3
Relapse Prevention Collaboration — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about relapse prevention collaboration while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Casey wants clear agreement about whom to contact if familiar warning signs return.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. An illness-management plan can specify support before difficulties escalate.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore relapse prevention collaboration using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: An illness-management plan can specify support before difficulties escalate. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Draft a collaborative early-warning plan with routine, increased-support, and urgent-assessment steps using existing care guidance. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Casey wants clear agreement about whom to contact if familiar warning signs return.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: What should each support person do, with your permission? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- What should each support person do, with your permission?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
Conceptual background
Illness Management and Recovery Evidence-Based Practices KIT — SAMHSA
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.