What Are Stages of Change and How Do They Apply to Addiction

What are stages of change and how do they apply to addiction – Stages of Change’ was developed by Prochaska & DiClemente. It basically was a basis of research about cigarette smoking literature, and it helps cognitive behavior therapists, in particular, understand the motivation of an individual who’s coming in for treatment. The first stage in the ‘Stages of Change’ is called precontemplation, meaning the client just says, “Well, I don’t really think I have a problem.” In the twelve steps of the disease model, we call that denial. “I don’t really have a problem. You think I have a problem, then that’s your problem.” The next stage is contemplation. Contemplation is, “Yeah, I’ve got a problem, but I don’t know if I want to do anything about it.” That’s often the case. Lots of people come in and say, or they say to their spouse, “I know I have a problem, but I don’t know if I really want to go through all the misery, or all that stuff to stop.” Some people stay in the contemplation phase for years. Sometimes they even go to the grave in the contemplation; they never even evolve out of it. Then the next stage, if there that balance beam of the contemplation phase eventually tips it up, is that they’ll then go into the preparation. In other words, they’ll pick up a self-help book, or they’ll maybe go to a therapist and start to learn about the resources that are available to discontinue this behavior. If that’s successful, they’ll move on to what’s called the action phase, with action being doing something. They stop gambling. They stop …

Addicted to Weird: An Interview with Jon Ronson

Filed under: addiction help books

And I'm very non-judgmental. I never feel superior to the people I interview, because I think that it's my irrational character traits that see me through too. It also helps that I know George Clooney. When I put in the email, “You may know my book The …
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