Since the first publication of this book in 2010, my staff and I have learned and grown so much in the field of addiction. This republication is my way of sharing the new knowledge that my staff and I have acquired. Over the years we have come to rely on and trust in the assessment process. I feel this is the one of most important factors in your recovery. During an assessment, the treatment provider will work to learn not only what you need help with, but also who you are, and why drug and alcohol addiction became a destructive element in your life. Any conditions that can perpetuate drug and alcohol abuse such as mental illness, health problems, family history, abuse history, spiritual affiliations, etc. will be discovered and used to create a personalized treatment plan, which is the second most important factor in a successful treatment program. As my manual will teach you, drug and alcohol addiction is a disease. There are multiple potential counterparts to the disease that are discussed during an assessment to determine the appropriate level of care. For example, mental health issues that may require medication, religious affiliations, genetic predispositions, etc. Considering these special factors during each case means that I can recommend precisely the level of care each client needs based on an all-inclusive understanding of their addiction. In conclusion, an assessment is an irreplaceable tool and the first step towards recovery. My staff and I are a very tight team and have been so for at least 15 years. When 4 people work as such a tight unit it has allowed us to cover many different variates of addiction and bring that to this workbook. I feel it is also important to note, that my practice has never received a dime of finding from the government but have become a primer expert in the field of addiction but have achieved feats such as being named Professional of the Year for the Northwest Region as part of the Florida Drug and Alcohol Addiction Abuse Association's 2011 Award for Excellence. Now finally let me explain why I have republished this book: Over the years we have noticed a lot of agencies do not offer or work with relapse prevention. This was a mistake even my practice made in the first publications of this book. This new publication is meant to rectify that error. The field of addiction is always a learning process and I want to grow with you. I have seen how relapse prevention helps clients with slips and relapse, as well as understanding the difference. As a team my practice has decided that this needs to be more prominent and therefore have transformed our final stone (Stone 7) in to just that, RELAPSE PREVENTION. I believe this is critical to helping clients remain clean and sober.