In 1948, social psychiatrist Hildegard Peplau laid the foundation for modern relationship-based care: healing does not occur in a vacuum, but in connection. This perspective has shaped addiction therapy and community health to this day. Those who want to stay "clean" need more than willpower – they need sustainable social networks. The good news: social participation can be trained like a muscle.

Addiction recovery is not just a biochemical withdrawal, but a social reconstruction. Central to this is the concept of social supportpractical, emotional, and informational help from one’s environment, which stabilizes abstinence and buffers stress. Equally important is Recovery Capitalpersonal, social, and community resources that support recovery – from stable relationships to meaningful roles in daily life. Community-based preventionlocally anchored programs that consolidate evidence-based measures in schools, clubs, and neighborhoods expands these resources by creating healthy norms and points of contact. Those who live without attachments after rehabilitation are more likely to encounter old triggers; those who embed themselves in supportive contexts create friction against relapse.

Lack of attachments increases morbidity and mortality in addiction recovery; conversely, partnerships and familial closeness correlate with more strengths and fewer barriers in the recovery process ^[1]. Especially among young adults, participation in 12-step programs enhances outcomes, even if the direct network exchange with peers may be limited ^[2]. In recovery house communities, higher general social support is closely associated with abstinence-specific self-efficacy – a psychological protective factor against relapse ^[3]. At the community level, sports and activity clubs show links to belonging, social inclusion, and life satisfaction – cornerstones of stable abstinence ^[4]. At the same time, community services identify barriers such as lack of social connections and negative self-perception; these can be addressed through gradual social learning environments, also supported digitally ^[5].

Community frameworks, such as the Interactive Systems Framework, show how professional prevention systems can cooperate with grassroots initiatives to anchor evidence-based practices in neighborhoods. The core: clear roles, translating evidence into everyday practice, and local support so that programs are not detached from the population ^[6]. Evaluation data from the nationwide PFS program indicate that several community-based prevention profiles – such as environmental strategies or high-intensity EBPPP packages – are associated with reductions in prescription drug abuse at the community level; purely media campaigns often fall short. This underscores that combinatorial approaches and contextual fit outperform singular solutions ^[7]. Additionally, a multi-component, community-based intervention that integrates mobilization, environmental measures, and school prevention demonstrates conceptual feasibility and practical implementability against legal substances in adolescents – indicating that breadth and local anchoring are necessary to achieve population-level effects ^[8].

- Choose an "anchor community": Within a week, find a local self-help group (e.g., AA/NA or residential recovery houses) and commit to regular participation for 4–6 weeks. Goal: increase social support, strengthen abstinence-specific self-efficacy ^[3].
- Build a 3-contacts ritual: Define three individuals (mentor, peer, family) that you actively contact on trigger-rich days. This will increase the size and quality of your support network ^[3][1].
- Integrate community sports: Join a low-threshold team or class (e.g., recreational soccer, running group). Schedule two fixed appointments per week to strengthen belonging, social inclusion, and well-being ^[4].
- Use tiered social training: If real contacts are difficult, start with structured, digital, or VR-based social exercises (e.g., role plays, skills training) and gradually increase the complexity to reduce barriers like negative self-perception ^[5].
- Engage in prevention networks: Ask in your community, school, or club about projects that implement evidence-based prevention (EBPPP). Help with implementation chains such as school workshops + environmental strategies, instead of solely relying on information campaigns ^[7][8].
- Become "a translator of evidence": Support local initiatives in introducing best practices in a way that is relevant to everyday life (e.g., parental trainings, availability rules, peer mentoring). Connect with existing professional structures to ensure quality ^[6].

The future of relapse prevention is social, hybrid, and data-informed: community programs that combine real and digital learning spaces will deliberately build Recovery Capital. Finer matchings between individual profiles and prevention packages are to be expected – ensuring that everyone finds the appropriate social environment for lasting "clean staying" ^[7][5].