HUNGRY, ANGRY, LONELY, TIRED

The acronym HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired), from Alcoholics Anonymous®, offers a useful tool to give clients to help them remember to address important needs early on:655

•

Don't get too Hungry can include an awareness—not only of avoiding being too hungry, but also focusing on healthy eating.

•

Don't get too Angry is a reminder to understand the causes of your anger and find healthy ways to feel and express that anger.

•

Don't get too Lonely is a reminder to connect with safe people, engage in social and recreational activities with others, and attend recovery support groups.

•

Don't get too Tired is a reminder to get enough sleep and rest when fatigued.

Invite clients to say “HALT” to themselves when feeling stressed and then take appropriate action before the impulse to use or reengage in risk behaviors becomes overwhelming.656

From: Chapter 2—Framework for Supporting Recovery With Counseling

Cover of Counseling Approaches To Promote Recovery From Problematic Substance Use and Related Issues
Counseling Approaches To Promote Recovery From Problematic Substance Use and Related Issues [Internet].
Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 65.
Copyright Notice

This is an open-access report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain License. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.