Glossary
Plain-language definitions for the words used across recovery support.
- Coping tool
- A coping tool is a specific action a person can reach for when the moment starts getting loud. In Switchback, the useful ones are not generic advice; they are the things the person has said actually help, like calling someone, changing rooms, taking a walk, eating something, writing, or using cold water. The point is not to make the feeling disappear. The point is to create enough space to choose the next recovery-aligned action.
- Craving vs. urge
- A craving is the pull toward a substance or old behavior; an urge is the felt pressure to act on that pull. They often arrive together, but separating them helps: a craving can be present without becoming an action. Switchback uses both words plainly because the practical work is the same in either case: notice what is happening, interrupt the sequence, and reach for one next step.
- Grounding
- Grounding is any small action that brings attention back to the present moment and the body. It might be sensory, like cold water or naming what is in the room; physical, like standing up or stepping outside; or relational, like texting a trusted person. In the app, grounding is framed as a first move, not a full solution: something that opens the gap before the old pattern takes over.
- HALT
- HALT is a recovery shorthand for hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. It is useful because these ordinary body and emotional states can make an urge feel bigger than it is. Switchback includes HALT in its trigger vocabulary so a person can check the basics without turning the moment into a character verdict.
- Lapse vs. relapse
- A lapse is one return to an old behavior; relapse is the broader return to the pattern. The distinction matters because shame can turn one moment into a story that the whole effort is over. Switchback keeps the moment-after language plain: one slip is one slip, text one person now, and decide nothing else tonight.
- Playing the tape forward
- Playing the tape forward means looking past the immediate promise of relief and asking where this usually leads. It is not self-punishment; it is a way to tell the truth before the old pattern edits the ending. The move is simple: imagine tonight, tomorrow morning, and the conversation with the person you would need to call afterward.
- Recovery capital
- Recovery capital means the resources that make recovery more supported: people, routines, safe places, purpose, practical stability, and connection. SAMHSA describes recovery as shaped by health, home, purpose, and community; in plain language, that is the ground a person stands on when a hard moment comes. Switchback focuses on the pieces a person can name and reach for quickly.
- Recovery routine
- A recovery routine is the repeatable work between the loud moments. It can include meetings, reflection, sleep, movement, honest check-ins, journaling, prayer, medication support, or anything else the person has found stabilizing. The routine is not a scorecard. It is the structure that makes the next hard moment a little less isolated.
- Relapse-prevention plan
- A relapse-prevention plan is a written map for what to notice, what to do, and who to contact when risk starts rising. In Switchback, that map is built from the person's own triggers, warning signs, coping tools, support contacts, emergency rule, and message to self. It is not a promise. It is a way to make the next right action easier to find under pressure.
- Support network
- A support network is the people, groups, and trusted contacts a person can reach toward when staying alone with a moment would make it harder. It can include recovery peers, sponsors, friends, family, therapists, doctors, faith leaders, or anyone who can help the person stay connected to what they want next. The key is specificity: not "someone," but the people already chosen before the moment gets loud.
- Trigger
- A trigger is a cue that starts pulling a person toward an old pattern: a place, person, feeling, time of day, body state, memory, or situation. A trigger does not cause relapse by itself. It starts a sequence, and recognizing the sequence is what creates a place to interrupt it.
- Urge surfing
- Urge surfing means staying with an urge as a wave instead of taking it as an order. The person notices where it shows up, names it, and lets it rise and change without immediately obeying it. Switchback uses the same practical frame in plain language: this feeling has a beginning, a middle, and an end; the job is to get through this wave without turning it into action.
- Warning signs
- Warning signs are the early signals that risk is building before the moment becomes obvious. They can be body signals, like poor sleep or restlessness; behavior changes, like isolating or skipping meetings; or thinking patterns, like "this time is different." Switchback separates warning signs from triggers because catching the buildup early gives the person more room to respond.