recovery journey worksheet

Printable Worksheets

quill pen and paper: track recovery progress and prevent relapse

Below are educational and relapse prevention tools to help you navigate the challenges of recovery.

Use these tools to track your recovery progress and monitor thoughts, cravings, and triggers. Complete the worksheets as often as needed.

Craving Tracker Worksheet

Complete one worksheet as often as needed to monitor your triggers and cravings. Share with a counselor, friend, or sponsor, and review your answers later to identify patterns and themes.

Cognitive Distortions Worksheet

Cognitive distortions are faulty thought patterns that can jeopardize recovery. Identify the most common cognitive distortions and challenge your thoughts if you recognize yourself in these descriptions.

Recovery Writing Prompts

Use these creative writing prompts to reflect on your recovery and spark your creativity. Share your responses on our blog or with a friend, counselor, or sponsor if you wish.

Gratitude Journal Prompts

Remembering what you’re grateful for is a wonderful way to stay motivated in recovery. So, use these gratitude journal prompts to remind yourself why you want to recover, and review your answers whenever you’re struggling.

Complete one worksheet daily for the first 90 days of recovery, or use these prompts anytime you wish.

Attachment Styles

Learn about your attachment style. Children form a secure or insecure (anxious, avoidant, or disorganized) attachment style based on how caregivers respond to their needs.

Research has linked insecure attachment styles to substance abuse, mental illness, and relationship troubles later in life. See which attachment style describes you.

Also, read more about attachment styles here .

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Page title Share Your Story

Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) banner

Sharing stories is a way to connect with people and inspire others who may be struggling with behavioral health conditions. When you share your recovery journey and how your recovery has impacted those around you, you show people they are not alone. Your story can also demonstrate that treatment works and recovery is possible.

Digital Storytelling Guide

Share Your Story: A How-to Guide to Digital Storytelling – 2016 (PDF | 1.4 MB) is an evidence-based guide to help people living with mental or substance use disorders tell their personal stories of recovery in a digital format. The following how-to videos on SAMHSA’s YouTube channel highlight the technology used in creating digital stories:

How to Create a Storyboard for Your Digital Story (4 minutes)
How to Create and Open an MP4 File (2 minutes)
How to Film and Record Your Digital Story (6 minutes)

For questions about the how-to-guide, email Captain Wanda Finch of SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) Office of Consumer Affairs at [email protected] . She will refer you to a technical assistance specialist for support.

Storytelling Video Trainings

The following webinars offer additional guidance for sharing your story of recovery:

Defining Our Own Recovery: Strategic Sharing and Recovery Messaging for Young People (1 hour, 4 minutes) – February 23, 2017
Communications, Advocacy, and Storytelling (1 hour, 30 minutes) – June 8, 2016

Access additional video trainings on peer support services, youth and young adults, and other topics.

Storytelling Websites

Share your recovery story at the following websites. Please read the SAMHSA.gov Exit Disclaimer for more information on resources from non-federal websites.

Mental health recovery stories at National Empowerment Center
Substance use recovery stories at Faces and Voices of Recovery

Last Updated: 10/03/2023

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Problem Solving
In this Tool

Navigating Thoughts and Emotions: The ABC Tool's Role in Recovery

Understanding the abc tool, the power of disputing and creating effective new beliefs, conclusion: harnessing control over thoughts and reactions, helpful links.

Recovery is a journey not just of changing behaviors, but also of transforming the way we think and feel. SMART Recovery's ABC Tool is a powerful approach to help us understand and manage our reactions to the situations we encounter. It teaches us that our beliefs about events, rather than the events themselves, cause our emotional responses and behaviors. This insight is crucial, both in managing urges and in handling emotional upsets

The ABC Tool breaks down into three parts: A for Activating Event, B for Beliefs, and C for Consequences. The idea is that (A) something happens, (B) this triggers a belief or thought, and (C) as a result, we experience emotional, behavioral, or physical consequences. Recognizing that our beliefs or thoughts at B are responsible for our reactions at C, not the actual event at A, is a game-changer in recovery.

Urges can be powerful, but they're also an opportunity to practice change. When an urge strikes, that's your Activating Event (A). The Beliefs (B) are your thoughts about that urge, like "I can't handle this," or "I need to give in to feel better." These beliefs lead to Consequences (C) — giving in to the urge, feeling anxious, or maybe even berating yourself for having the urge.

Here's where the ABC Tool shines. By identifying and challenging those beliefs (B), you can change the consequences (C). You might remind yourself that urges always pass, that you're in control, or that giving in only brings temporary relief at a high cost. By changing your thoughts, you change your response, empowering yourself to manage the situation more effectively.

Emotional upsets are often triggered by events or situations (A) that lead to automatic thoughts or beliefs (B), resulting in emotional or behavioral consequences (C). For example, if someone cancels plans with you (A), you might think they don't value your friendship (B), leading to feelings of sadness or rejection (C).

Using the ABC Tool, you can examine those beliefs (B) to see if they're accurate or if there's another way to look at things. Maybe your friend had an unavoidable issue, or perhaps it's an opportunity for you to enjoy some unexpected alone time. By challenging and changing your beliefs, you can mitigate the emotional upset and respond in a way that aligns with your recovery goals.

A crucial part of the ABC Tool is the Disputing process, which involves challenging unhelpful or irrational beliefs and creating effective new beliefs. This process is often referred to as "D" (Disputing) and "E" (Effective new belief) in the extended version of the tool, known as the ABCDE Model. Whether you're dealing with urges or emotional upsets, questioning the validity of your negative beliefs allows you to create new, healthier ones that support your well-being and recovery journey.

The journey to recovery is often fraught with challenges, including strong urges and emotional turbulence. The ABC Tool is a lifeline during these times, providing a practical framework to dissect and understand your experiences. It underscores an empowering truth: while we can't always control events or circumstances, we have the power to control our reactions by understanding and reshaping our beliefs. Through the ABC Tool, you're not just surviving the challenges of recovery; you're mastering the art of navigating your thoughts and emotions, laying a solid foundation for a healthier, more balanced life.

ABCs Worksheet Download

Related tools, dibs: disputing irrational beliefs.

In the realm of addiction recovery, the battleground is often not in the physical world but within the confines of our own minds. SMART Recovery, a program grounded in empowering individuals to break free from the chains of addictive behaviors, underscores the importance of mental liberation through the DIBs tool. An acronym for "Disputing Irrational Beliefs," DIBs is a central pillar in the SMART Recovery approach, guiding individuals through the process of identifying and challenging irrational beliefs that fuel addictive behaviors. This article illuminates the transformative power of DIBs in the journey toward sustainable recovery.

DISARM: Destructive Images and Self-Talk Awareness and Refusal Method

Recovery from addiction is often visualized as a battlefield where one's inner demons are the foe. These inner enemies come armed with deceptive allure, masquerading as friends or saviors, promising relief, pleasure, or escape. But, as anyone on the journey to recovery knows, yielding to these false promises leads only to more suffering. SMART Recovery arms individuals in this battle with an arsenal of tools, one of the most potent being DISARM - Destructive Images and Self-talk Awareness and Refusal Method.

Role-Playing/Rehearsal

When we think of role-playing, we might imagine actors rehearsing for a play. They try out different lines and actions, preparing for their performance. But did you know that a similar strategy can be super helpful for people working to overcome addictive behaviors? This strategy, known as the Role-play/Rehearsal tool in SMART Recovery, is a powerful way to get ready for tough situations and make smart choices.

Tool Overview

How to use this tool

Example Scenario

The ABC Model is a good way of understanding how we can help change our feelings and behaviour by challenging our thinking.

When to Use This Tool

The ABC Model is a good way of understanding how we can help change our feelings and behaviour by challenging our thinking. It helps us uncover beliefs that are not helping us /contributing to the behaviour we are trying to change.

This exercise may be done in the group setting but can also be very useful for participants to look at between meetings.

How To Use This Tool

When working with urges: To analyze a lapse/relapse or to develop coping statements for an anticipated lapse/relapse. In the event of a lapse, the question to ask is not “What made me do that”, but rather, “How did I talk myself into it?” It is not the urge (A) that causes the lapse (C). It is our beliefs (B); our irrational self-talk.

With emotional upset: The ABC Model can also be used to work with emotional upset or frustrations that may occur at any point in the recovery journey. The ABCs allow us to discover our unhelpful beliefs which contribute to emotional upsets. Disputing helps us eliminate our irrational thinking so we can both feel better and do better. In SMART Recovery we teach that we feel the way we think; it’s not unpleasant events that disturb us, it’s the way we think of them. By changing our thinking, we change how we feel.

Identifying and Disputing Unhelpful Thinking. Disputing is a process of challenging the way we think about situations. It’s about trying to look at thoughts more accurately. Disputing unhelpful thinking can help us make more informed decisions about thoughts instead of just acting on them. Balanced thinking leads to effective new beliefs.