In this monologue, Dallas Bragg explains that crystal meth has one of the highest relapse rates among substances, and that many people leave treatment only to relapse immediately. He argues that demanding immediate total abstinence is unrealistic and sets clients up for shame and failure. Instead, Bragg proposes a controversial but effective "planned use" or tapering strategy: clients map their typical use pattern, schedule a specific use window (e.g., after 10 days), and set detailed parameters (who, how much, when to stop, mid‑check‑ins). By having a known future use, clients can strengthen their ability to say no in the moment, gradually extending the abstinent interval (10 → 14 → 20 → 30 days). The approach tracks usage over a 180‑day program, comparing the number of uses in the current 180 days to the prior 180 days to demonstrate progress. Bragg emphasizes building self‑trust, celebrating incremental wins, and iterating on the plan rather than resetting the clock after a lapse. He concludes with a call to action, inviting viewers to DM or comment the word "group" to join the next group coaching cohort.
Chapters
The relapse rate for crystal meth is higher than most any other drugs, and many, many people will leave treatment, a great treatment experience, and leave and then relapse right away. This is common, and if that's you, I want you to listen up. One thing that we do in my program, it's controversial but it works, is that we do a tapering plan. So if you're coming out of treatment, or if you're coming out of active use, To ask you to be abstinent right away, day one, is a lot. It's unrealistic, and it's setting you up for failure, shame, and a relapse pattern and cycle. So why not plan a use? Plan a use. This is what I do with some of my clients. We'll look at their pattern. If it's every 2 weeks, or if it's every week, something like that, then we're going to say, okay, Can you wait 10 days? In 10 days, there's a long weekend coming up. That could be your use. So I want you to plan it with me. What time are you starting? Who are you using with? How much are you going to use? How are you going to use it? When are you stopping? When are we checking in in the middle? Checking in the middle can be tricky, but can be done. It can be done. So if you know that in 10 days you have a planned use The ability to say no in this moment goes way up, is stronger, because there's something in you that says, I can say no now because I'm going to use later. Once we get you past 10 days, oftentimes you're enjoying life so much and you are so proud of yourself because you have been asked to be abstinent over and over and over, and you failed over and over and over. Now you are actually seeing results. Your trust in yourself is building. You get to that 10 days, oftentimes, most of the time, my clients will say, can we push that to 14 days? Can we push that to 15 days? How about 20? Soon you have a month. Now you may use, and when you do, if we follow the plan, even if we follow the plan somewhat, we're going to anchor into those wins. This is where— this is what you did. This is what you did really well. This is what we could fix next time. Here's an iteration. Here's what we need to do to make sure that doesn't happen. We do a whole little synopsis and we don't start your days over. Your days started the day you started with me and there's 180 days in this program. Those are your days. And we're going to measure how many times you use in 180 days and we're going to compare that to the 180 days before to show you that you are progressing, that you can do this, that there is a fucking light at the end of the tunnel. So if you're interested in this kind of process, I want you to DM me the word group or comment the word group below, and we'll get you involved in our next group coaching cohort.
