Relapse prevention plan template for therapists (CBT)

A relapse prevention plan is a short document written with the client in the last sessions of therapy. It brings together what they have learnt, the signs that should alert them, the risky situations of the coming months, what they will do if things slip and when to get back in touch. It belongs to the client: they keep it, reread it and update it. We suggest keeping a copy in your notes.

Here you will find the template to copy, a one-page client version and a completed example. This article complements our treatment plan template, which makes this plan an ending criterion, and our end-of-therapy summary template, which picks up its warning signs.

What the plan is for at the end of therapy

The plan does three jobs: it turns the work done in sessions into instructions the client can apply alone, it helps them recognise an early slip (while it is still easy to act), and it takes the drama out of a lapse so it does not become a reason to drop everything they have learnt.

The content depends on the problem.

• Depression: early signs are often subtle (sleep, withdrawal, dropping enjoyable activities, rumination). The main strategy is usually to restart behavioural activation before mood drops sharply.
• Anxiety disorders: the first sign is often the return of avoidance or safety behaviours, before the anxiety itself. The plan restates the exposure principle and names a specific exercise to repeat.
• OCD: watch time spent on rituals, reassurance seeking from family, new avoidance. The plan says how family members respond to reassurance requests.
• Addictions: the work focuses on high-risk situations and craving, in line with Marlatt's relapse prevention model. The difference between a lapse (one use) and a relapse (return to the previous pattern) is central. See also our addiction session notes.

For any client, the plan can list official helplines (in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123, free and open 24 hours a day).

What recognised sources say

• NICE quality standard QS8, statement 3 (updated 2023): adults with depression at higher risk of relapse have relapse prevention interventions, after discussing with their healthcare professional whether to continue treatment. In psychological therapy, these mean reviewing what helped, making concrete plans to maintain progress, identifying triggers and warning signs, and planning for challenging events over the next 12 months. Risk factors listed: recurrent episodes, residual symptoms, a severe episode, coexisting conditions, avoidance or rumination, personal or social factors that are still present. (source)
• HAS, France (2017): the French national guideline on depression describes a consolidation phase whose aim is to prevent relapse of the episode. For a moderate or severe episode in full remission, it recommends continuing any antidepressant for 6 months to 1 year and continuing any psychotherapy under way. It gives no list of early signs and no plan template: that is the work to do with the client. (source, pp. 15 and 16, in French)
• CBT practitioners: Dr Matthew Pugh (Psychology Tools, 2026) advises introducing it before the final session, anchoring it in the formulation, separating early from late warning signs and treating it as a living document.

Relapse plan, safety plan, ending summary: who does what

• Relapse prevention plan: for the client. Written with them, in their words. Contents: signs, risk situations, strategies, contacts, threshold to get back in touch. They keep it.
• Safety plan: a separate document, specific to suicide risk, not covered here.
• Final session note: for you. What was done, the client's state, handing over the plan, the booster session booked. See our CBT session note template.
• End-of-therapy summary: for the record and any onward referral. One page on the whole course of therapy. It mentions the plan and lists its warning signs, without copying it out.

The complete template to copy

Eight sections. Fill them in with the client, starting from their case formulation (for example a 5Ps formulation), then delete the prompts.

1. Header

• Client's first name, date written, date of next review
• Therapist, practice contact details, how to book back in
• Version number (the plan will be updated)

2. What brought me to therapy and what has changed

• The starting problem, in one or two of the client's sentences
• The vicious cycle understood in therapy (thoughts, feelings, behaviours that kept the problem going)
• Before / now: two or three concrete comparisons

3. What I have learnt and what helps most

• The three most useful tools, each with an instruction for use
• The general principle behind them (for example "avoiding keeps fear going")
• An experiment or moment in therapy that stayed with me

4. My early warning signs

• Early signs (what I notice first: sleep, withdrawal, avoidance, irritability, typical thoughts)
• Late signs (the point where I must act straight away)
• What the people close to me notice before I do

5. My high-risk situations over the next 12 months

• Foreseeable events (moving house, exams, anniversary of a loss, end of a contract, stopping medication agreed with the GP)
• Recurring situations that make me vulnerable (tiredness, conflict, time of year)
• What I plan for each one

6. My action plan

• If I notice an early sign: what I do that week (restart an exercise, reread a worksheet, schedule an activity)
• If a lapse happens: what I tell myself (a lapse does not wipe out what I have learnt) and what I do the next day
• What I keep doing every week, even when things are fine
• A "session with myself": date, length, questions to ask

7. My support people

• One or two people close to me, what they know about the plan, what I can ask of them
• My GP, and the prescriber if I take medication
• The therapist's practice
• Official helplines in my country (Samaritans 116 123 in the UK and Ireland)

8. When to get back in touch

• A concrete criterion (for example "early signs for two weeks despite the plan")
• The booster session booked: date or time frame
• Who to contact if I cannot wait for the booster session (GP, practice)

The short version for the client

Some clients will not reread a two-page document. We suggest also giving them a one-page version to keep on their phone or on the fridge.

• My warning signs: three signs, in my words.
• My three tools: one line each.
• My risky times this year: two or three dates or situations.
• If I start to slip: what I do first, who I call.
• I book back in if: one clear criterion, and the practice number.
• Helpline: the official number for my country (Samaritans 116 123 in the UK and Ireland).

A fully completed fictional example

Ms L., 31, generalised anxiety disorder, 14 sessions of CBT. Invented case. Plan written over sessions 12 to 14.

1. Header

Ms L., written 14 May, version 1. Review planned at the booster session in September. Rebooking by message to the practice.

2. What brought me and what has changed

"I worried about everything, especially my health and my job." Cycle understood: worrying felt like preparing; I checked emails until bedtime and asked my partner to reassure me. Before: hours of worry a day, waking almost every night. Now: a 20-minute "worry time", nights almost always unbroken.

3. What I have learnt

• Worry time: I write the worry down and postpone it to 6 pm, 20 minutes maximum.
• Real versus hypothetical problems: real, I make an action plan; hypothetical, I let it pass without answering it.
• Tolerating uncertainty: I deliberately leave one thing unchecked each day.
• Principle: trying to be certain keeps anxiety going.

4. My early warning signs

• Early: I start rereading emails before sleep; I ask "do you think it's serious?" more than once a day; tension in my shoulders.
• Late: waking at night several nights running; avoiding opening my medical results.
• What my partner notices first: I get irritable and talk about work non-stop.

5. Risk situations over the next 12 months

• Annual review at work in November: I prepare three points, no more.
• Health check in January: no internet searches on symptoms.

6. My action plan

• Early sign: I use the "real or hypothetical" worksheet daily for two weeks and reinstate the 8 pm email cut-off.
• Lapse (a whole evening of rumination): I note it, without concluding "it's all coming back", and restart worry time the next day.
• Every week: exercise twice, one call to a friend.
• Session with myself on the first Sunday of the month: what did I avoid? what did I check?

7. My support people

• My partner: if he sees me seeking reassurance, he points me to the worksheet rather than reassuring me.
• My GP, the practice; Samaritans (116 123), free, 24 hours a day.

8. When to get back in touch

• If early signs last more than two weeks despite the plan, or as soon as a late sign appears.
• Booster session: September, already booked.

How to build it over the final sessions

There is no official timetable. This is the one we suggest for short-term CBT.

• Two or three sessions before the end: state clearly how many sessions are left and give sections 2 to 4 to prepare.
• Next session: go through what the client wrote, add from the formulation, work on sections 5 and 6. Suggest they ask someone close what they notice when things are not right.
• Final session: final read-through, short version, copy handed over, booster session date.
• Booster session: a few weeks to a few months later. Reread the plan together, check what was used, update it (new dated version).

Linking it to the session note and the ending summary

• In the final session note: "relapse prevention plan finalised and handed over (version 1)", the three main warning signs, the booster session date, the client's state at the end.
• In the end-of-therapy summary: one line referring to the plan, with its warning signs and risk situations. No need to copy it out in full.
• In the record: a copy of the plan and its versions. At the booster session, a brief note is enough: what was used, what changed, new version or not.

For the full set of documents in a course of therapy, see our clinical document templates.

Common mistakes

• Writing it alone, in the last session: the client receives it as a discharge form and does not recognise themselves in it.
• Generic signs ("low mood", "stress") instead of the client's own. A good sign is observable and early.
• Strategies without instructions: "do exposure" does not say what to do on Tuesday. Write the exercise.
• Forgetting the next 12 months: foreseeable events (exams, anniversaries of a loss, stopping medication) are the easiest to prepare for.
• No threshold for coming back: without a clear criterion, the client waits too long or does not dare get in touch.
• A frozen plan: date it, number it, reread it at the booster session.

Why Delta suits this stage of therapy

Delta keeps the memory of each client: after each session (live transcription of what is said, or dictation of your observations), it produces the session report according to your approach, CBT included, and updates the therapy summary and tracked goals. When you prepare the plan, everything is in one place. Data stays in Europe, in France, on infrastructure certified for health data, and the client's name is pseudonymised before the AI. See also our page for therapists.

Sources

• NICE, Depression in adults, quality standard QS8, statement 3: Preventing relapse (2011, updated 2023)
• HAS (France), Épisode dépressif caractérisé de l'adulte : prise en charge en soins de premier recours (October 2017, in French)
• Psychology Tools, M. Pugh, Relapse Prevention: How To Make Therapy Blueprints More Helpful (March 2026)
• Samaritans, contact page