STOP LYING TO YOURSELF

The Recovery Self-Honesty Workbook

Identify the excuses. Expose the patterns. Build a defense against future relapse.

Relapse doesn't always begin when someone picks up a drink or drug.

Sometimes it begins much earlier—with the thinking.

The excuse.

The resentment.

The isolation.

The rationalization.

The selective memory.

The thought that says, “This time will be different.”

STOP LYING TO YOURSELF is a practical recovery workbook created by Stanley R. Leszewski, Founder of American Substance Abuse Foundation LLC, combining lived recovery experience, straightforward recovery logic, substance-abuse prevention education, and written behavioral exercises.

This isn't something you're supposed to simply read and forget.

You're supposed to write in it.

Because one of the most important lessons I've learned in recovery is simple:

THE PEN DON'T LIE.

When we put our thinking on paper, excuses become easier to recognize. Patterns become harder to ignore. And the truth becomes harder to manipulate.

WHAT THIS WORKBOOK HELPS YOU IDENTIFY

This workbook examines addictive thinking including:

• Denial

• Rationalization

• Selective memory

• Entitlement

• Blame and resentment

• Secrecy

• Isolation

• Impulsivity

• Romanticizing substance use

• Relapse warning signs

• Planning and access behaviors

• The excuses we create before making destructive decisions

WHAT'S INSIDE

You'll work through practical exercises designed to help you:

• Identify your personal addictive-thinking patterns

• Separate facts from excuses

• Recognize rationalization before acting on it

• Understand your personal relapse-thinking chain

• Identify your strongest warning signs

• Challenge dangerous thoughts

• Make substance use harder to access

• Build a stronger support system

• Create an interruption plan

• Examine what happened if a return to use occurs

• Complete a Seven-Day Recovery Inventory

• Build your personal Relapse Defense Contract

WHO IS THIS WORKBOOK FOR?

This workbook is designed for people struggling with substance use, people already in recovery, people concerned about relapse, peer-support and recovery communities, and anyone who wants to better understand addictive thinking.

It can also help families and loved ones better understand how thinking and behavior can begin changing before substance use actually occurs.

MY RECOVERY LOGIC IS SIMPLE

You cannot change what you refuse to identify.

You cannot correct a lie you continue pretending is the truth.

And you cannot build a defense against relapse if you refuse to examine the thinking that can lead you back there.

Get honest. Write it down. Identify the pattern. Challenge the thinking. Build your defense.

DIGITAL RECOVERY WORKBOOK — $5

Instant PDF Download

Created by:

Stanley R. Leszewski

Founder

AMERICAN SUBSTANCE ABUSE FOUNDATION LLC

WE HAVE A SOLUTION.

THE PEN DON'T LIE.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This workbook provides educational, substance-abuse awareness, prevention, lived-experience recovery information, and general behavioral exercises. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, psychotherapy, detoxification guidance, or a substitute for professional treatment.

Withdrawal from certain substances can be medically dangerous. Anyone experiencing a suspected overdose, severe withdrawal, seizure, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, or another medical emergency should call 911 or seek immediate medical care.

Individual recovery experiences and outcomes vary. This workbook does not guarantee abstinence or prevention of relapse.