My First Week After Leaving Treatment
Use this sheet to arrange the next few days around your care team’s instructions and your actual needs. It is a flexible planning window, not a required recovery stage or a test of success.
For: People seeking help or planning their own support · 3 PDF pages
No email or account is required. Use the PDF or printed spaces for private notes. This guide does not collect worksheet answers. Save and reopen a completed PDF to check your notes.
Build around essentials and chosen support
Recovery can involve treatment, medication, peer support and other personally chosen approaches. SAMHSA describes health, a stable home, meaningful activity and supportive relationships as important dimensions. A first-week plan can therefore include food, sleep arrangements, transport and company as well as appointments.
Sources: [1]
Use the clinical discharge plan for treatment and medicine instructions. Confirm the next appointment and how you will reach it; if an arrangement falls through, contact the service rather than leaving a referral unaddressed. Continuing support should fit the needs identified in treatment.
Sources: [2]
An example of a small, workable plan
Hypothetical first-day plan — adapt, do not copy
Scroll the table sideways on a small screen to compare all columns.
| Need | Arrangement | If it falls through |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-up visit | Confirmed Thursday at 10; clinic number saved. | Call the clinic about the next available option. |
| Medicine access | Check the written list with the pharmacy today. | Call the prescribing service if the medicine or coverage is unavailable. |
| Food and contact | Ask a friend to bring groceries and call this evening. | Use the backup contact already chosen. |
Choose a few actions you can use. An unanswered item belongs on the follow-up list; it is not evidence that you have failed. These are original planning prompts, not a clinical program.
My week
- Care and medicine arrangements
- Appointments, pharmacy/clinic details, dates and whether each item is confirmed.
- Where I will stay and daily essentials
- Housing, food, phone, transport, caregiving or accessibility arrangements that need attention.
- People and support I want
- Who, the specific help I want, contact details and when we plan to connect.
- A manageable routine
- One or two activities that give the day structure; include rest and room for appointments.
- The first unresolved item
- What needs confirming, who can help, when I will ask and my backup if there is no answer.
- What I want to tell my care team
- New concerns, difficult situations, side effects or a plan that is not working.
Keep completed notes private. Share only what you choose with the people helping you. These are original educational and planning prompts, not a validated assessment.