Understanding Triggers: How to Spot and Manage Them in Early Recovery

If you’re currently in recovery or have been in the past, you’ll know that healing from addiction isn’t just about abstaining from a particular substance or behaviour – it’s also about learning to live differently.

Old routines and behaviours, especially those associated with past substance use, can no longer be a part of your life, not if you hope to remain healthy and sober.

Recovery from substance abuse really is a case of ‘’change your behaviour, change your life.’’

A significant part of this change is learning to manage your triggers, which is often one of the biggest challenges many people face in early recovery.

Triggers can be anything from internal or external cues like past social circles linked to substance use, stress, or boredom, situations that may result in cravings, emotional distress, and, for some, relapse.

At Centres for Health and Healing, a significant part of our work with clients involves helping them learn to recognize and respond to their unique triggers with awareness and self-compassion, providing a supportive and understanding environment for growth and transformation.

Our approach is to help clients recognize that recovery isn’t about eliminating all triggers.

It’s about building the capacity to identify and manage them without succumbing to substance use. This is a crucial aspect of the recovery process, and with support and determination, it’s a goal that can be achieved. 

What are triggers in addiction recovery?

A trigger can be anything that causes a physical or emotional reaction that may make you want to start using again or return to past coping mechanisms.

Each individual has their own unique triggers – but common triggers in addiction recovery can include:

• Certain people (especially those linked to past substance use)
• Places
• Familiar smells or scents

Triggers can also be internal and may include:

• Shame
• Stress
• Financial worries
• Painful memories 
• Loneliness or boredom

Experts say that our five basic senses, particularly our sense of smell, can be the fastest route to memory recall. 

If you think about how it feels to smell a perfume that reminds you of someone or a particular time in your life, imagine how a person in early recovery feels when their senses are evoked, reminding them of what it felt like to drink or use drugs.

In early recovery, even the smallest reminders can feel intense and overwhelming, such as:

• Revisiting places where substance use took place
• Specific anniversaries 
• Relational issues or arguments
• Social isolation
• Boredom
• Unresolved trauma

Identifying your unique triggers is a significant part of the recovery process and can be the first step to managing them effectively.

How to spot and manage your triggers 

Spotting your triggers as early as possible is key to helping you manage them and avoid relapse in the future. However, we know it’s not always easy to identify what makes you want to repeat old patterns or unhealthy habits. 

To aid you in this process, we have outlined below some practical techniques and strategies that can help you identify your triggers more easily.

Learn to track your emotional patterns

Addiction recovery involves a lot of getting to know yourself again, which can be a beautiful unfolding that allows you to cultivate self-love, compassion, and understanding for this new, healthier version of who you are becoming.

Learning to track your emotional patterns is a crucial part of this unfolding process, particularly when it comes to recognizing your triggers.

Building awareness around this can take time and will require some patience on your part; however, it can be helpful to take note of the times of day when you feel most anxious, disconnected, or restless.

Ask yourself, ‘’Who am I around when I feel like this?’’, ‘’Where am I when anxiety, shame, or disconnection comes up?’’ ‘’What happens in my body when these feelings arise?’’

It can also help to track any beliefs you may have around a particular sensation or feeling. 

For instance, ask yourself, ‘’What does this belief make me feel about myself?’’ ‘’Is it authentic or conditioned?’’ ‘’Whose voice do I hear when I think about this feeling or belief?’’

These questions can help you make sense of any feelings or core beliefs that may have led to substance use and may continue to trigger you if you remain unaware of them.

Tracking your emotional patterns throughout the day brings unresolved feelings and emotions to light, helping you build clarity and resilience instead of resorting to old, unhelpful patterns to cope with them.

Notice any physical cues

Similar to the above, but on a more physical level, noticing any physical cues in your body, such as a tight chest, a racing heart, or sudden fatigue, can all be vital information if you pay close attention.

Get curious about what these sensations might be trying to communicate – the body holds a different container for information.

Therefore, listening to somatic cues, which are physical sensations that may indicate an emotional trigger, helps you understand what may be triggering you outside of your awareness.

Identify environmental patterns

This is a point worth repeating. 

For individuals in early recovery, past reminders of substance use, such as certain people, places, or even songs, can evoke intense feelings of sadness, shame, and even cravings.

This concept builds upon an earlier point regarding the five basic senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. 

In early recovery, these senses are more easily activated, catapulting the person right back to a time when drinking and/or drug-taking was a significant or vocal point in their life. 

When the senses are evoked, so are memories of substance use, where the individual may reflect on their old life with rose-tinted glasses, a time when alcohol or drugs were like a friend, the thing that numbed or helped them escape painful thoughts.

Identifying your environmental triggers is vital to help you avoid ‘’the grass is always greener on the other side’’ type thinking. 

Remember, awareness brings choice – and accountability is what transforms triggers or reactions into recovery.

Work with a therapist or counsellor

If spotting (and managing) your triggers is too challenging, it can help to work with a trauma-informed therapist or peer coach, as they can help you explore relational or emotional triggers you may not consciously be aware of.

Think of Freud’s Iceberg Model, which suggests that only around 10% of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours are conscious, while the rest are hidden beneath the waterline. 

Often, we need a trained specialist to help us uncover buried memories, motivations, beliefs, and emotions, bringing them to light so they no longer hold the same power over our feelings and choices.

Once we are aware of what triggers us, we gain opportunities to create new stories, identities, and move toward empowerment and growth, rather than feeling stuck in old mental loops or behaviours that no longer serve us.

Helpful strategies for managing triggers

Realistically, it’s not always possible to avoid all triggers, but you can develop resilience by learning to respond in healthy ways.

At Centres for Health and Healing, there are several approaches we use with clients to help them identify and manage triggers, including:

• Somatic techniques – Body-based practices such as yoga, breathwork, and mindfulness can help soothe the nervous system and release any stress or tension you may be holding in your body.
• Grounding strategies – Resources such as orienting to your space, deep breathing, and gentle movement can help you focus on the present moment, allowing you to reconnect with your body instead of disconnecting from it.
• Connecting with your support system – Attending support groups, reaching out to peers, or speaking with one of our trained therapists can help you make sense of and process difficult emotions safely.
• Self-compassion – Rather than shaming or judging yourself every time you feel triggered, gently remind yourself that recovery is a gradual process that takes time. Every piece of awareness you gain is progress, and it can help to remind yourself of this whenever you feel self-judgement or that critical voice creeping in.

Recovery is a lifelong process

The infamous saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” can be attributed to the experience of early recovery.

Understanding and managing your triggers is not about perfection or getting it right all the time – it’s about self-awareness and progress.

Each time you experience a trigger and choose a healthy response over past reactions, you strengthen your resilience and rebuild confidence and trust within yourself.

And that unfolding may not always be perfect, but it can always be beautiful and even transformative.

At Centres for Health and Healing, we provide individualized addiction treatment programs that address the emotional, spiritual, and physical aspects of substance use.

We offer trauma-informed treatment, evidence-based therapies, experiential approaches, and comprehensive aftercare support to help our clients learn how to spot and manage triggers with compassion and confidence.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or managing triggers, you don’t have to face this alone.

Our team is always here to lend a supportive ear and offer help and guidance in whatever way you need.

Contact our professional team in confidence today, and start your journey to sobriety and wellness with people who genuinely care and understand.