Relapse Prevention: Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light

How do I make a plan so I don't relapse after recovery? Hi, my name is Rachel Havocost, and I am a writer and mental health advocate. I've been in therapy for 19 years for a variety of mental health issues, and my mission is to just make one person feel less alone. This is one of my favorite tools that I learned when I left eating disorder recovery to help me navigate life post recovery. When I lose that structure of being with all that support, and I'm out in the real world, or the real world in life trying to navigate things.

So this is called my green light, yellow light, red light tool. So this is a really good way when we leave a recovery situation or when we step down from a higher level of care to a lower level of care, for us to have some tools and understanding of, okay, when these things are happening, this is how I know I'm doing well. This is how I know I'm struggling a little bit more, and this is how I know I need extra support. It's very simple. All you do is you take out a sheet of paper and you write down red light, yellow light, green light.

The green light is, these are indications that I am recovery oriented. So that will mean for me eating three meals and two snacks. That will mean for me not tracking steps or calories. That will mean for me calling my friends for support when I'm struggling, meeting with my therapist once a week and not canceling appointments, moving mindfully, getting good sleep, drinking water. So these are all indications that I'm living in this, like, recovery oriented space. Yellow light are indications that maybe I'm starting to experience some symptoms.

Those things happen. It might be a good indication that I should reach out for extra support. So, for me, that might mean skipping snacks or skipping meals. That might mean tracking steps. That might mean maybe I miss a therapy appointment, or I'm not being totally honest with my therapist, or instead of calling a friend for support, I'm reaching for food instead. So if those things start happening, I can go, oh, I'm kind of in this yellow zone. So this might be a good time for me to call in for extra reinforcements and maybe let my therapist know, hey, I'm kind of in this yellow zone.

Like, it might mean that there's some stressors happening in my life, then there's the red zone. And these are indications that I'm experiencing symptoms. So for me, that might mean I'm skipping more than one meal, I'm not going to therapy, or I'm being dishonest with my therapist. I'm binge eating or restricting. I'm compensating my meals by moving or exercising more. I'm weighing myself or I'm tracking calories. So when I'm experiencing those things, that's a sign that I need to double down on my support.

And I've shared that red light, yellow light, green light with my support team, meaning my friends or family members that I trust to be my support system when I've left, and my therapist, that they also are aware and can kind of call me out and say, hey, I noticed that you're kind of experiencing some of these yellow lights symptoms. Let's talk about it. Let me know if you have any questions or if you want any other specific tips about eating disorder recovery or recovery oriented practices. And I cannot wait to see you next time.