Stages of Change
This stage involves recognizing that substance use is a problem while still feeling uncertain about making a change.
What is contemplation?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Contemplation combines awareness of a problem with ambivalence about change.
Thoughts, memories, physical sensations, and emotions that increase urges are classified as this type of trigger.
What are internal triggers?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Internal triggers originate within the person and may include thoughts, emotions, memories, or bodily sensations.
Pausing to notice thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the present moment without judgment is this coping skill.
What is mindfulness?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Mindfulness slows automatic reactions and supports intentional choices.
These deeply held beliefs guide decisions and reflect what matters most in a person’s life.
What are personal values?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Values provide direction and help clients evaluate whether choices support the life they want.
A family member, peer, sponsor, or provider who offers encouragement, accountability, and practical help may fill this role.
Who is a support person?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Effective support people reinforce safety, accountability, connection, and recovery goals.
In this stage, a person is actively changing behaviors and engaging in recovery-supportive activities.
What is the action stage?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Action is demonstrated through active participation in recovery behaviors.
People, places, objects, and situations associated with substance use are classified as this type of trigger.
What are external triggers?
Facilitator Teaching Point: External triggers occur in the environment and can often be anticipated or modified.
Leaving a risky setting, removing substances, or changing routines are examples of this type of coping strategy.
What are environmental coping strategies?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Changing the environment can reduce exposure to triggers and make recovery-supportive choices easier.
Active substance use often pulls behavior out of alignment with these guiding beliefs.
What are personal values?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Recognizing value conflicts can strengthen insight and motivation for recovery.
Connecting with peers helps reduce this common relapse risk characterized by disconnection from others.
What is isolation?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Peer connection decreases shame and creates belonging, shared understanding, and accountability.
This stage is marked by consistently practicing recovery skills and sustaining new behaviors over time.
What is maintenance?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Maintenance focuses on continuing behavior change and strengthening recovery stability.
Stress, anger, sadness, loneliness, and other intense feelings belong to this trigger category.
What are emotional triggers?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Emotional triggers can increase vulnerability when feelings are not identified and regulated.
Contacting a sponsor, peer, family member, or provider when an urge rises is this form of coping.
What is social-support coping?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Reaching out interrupts isolation and adds encouragement, accountability, and perspective.
Recovery can restore a person’s connection to these two sources of meaning and direction.
What are personal values and life direction?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Recovery supports intentional living and reconnection with meaningful priorities.
Therapy, treatment groups, case management, and structured programs are examples of this category of support.
What are professional supports?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Professional supports provide clinical guidance, monitoring, structure, and access to resources.
Mixed feelings about whether change is necessary or possible are the hallmark of this stage.
What is contemplation?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Ambivalence is expected in contemplation and can be explored through motivational interviewing.
Being hungry, angry, lonely, tired, or overwhelmed can increase these two related recovery concerns.
What are cravings and relapse risk?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Unmet physical and emotional needs can intensify urges and reduce effective decision-making.
Practicing healthy coping strategies can decrease these immediate relapse-related experiences.
What are urges and cravings?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Coping skills help clients tolerate urges without acting on them.
Clarifying what matters most can strengthen this internal drive for change.
What is motivation for change?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Values-based goals make recovery personally meaningful rather than merely externally required.
A reliable network of healthy relationships increases these factors that buffer against relapse.
What are protective factors?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Support systems increase stability, accountability, resources, and recovery connection.
This stage centers on sustaining progress and using prevention strategies to avoid returning to substance use.
What is maintenance?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Maintenance includes relapse prevention, ongoing supports, and continued skill practice.
Recognizing personal triggers early helps reduce this threat to continued recovery.
What is relapse risk?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Trigger awareness creates time to use coping skills before risk escalates.
Repeated coping-skill practice strengthens confidence in one’s abilities and this capacity to recover from difficulty.
What are self-efficacy and recovery resilience?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Practice increases confidence and the ability to adapt during stress or setbacks.
Choosing behaviors that match personal values helps support this enduring recovery outcome.
What is long-term recovery?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Consistent values-aligned action strengthens purpose, identity, and recovery stability.
Seeking assistance when needed demonstrates these three recovery qualities—not weakness.
What are strength, insight, and accountability?
Facilitator Teaching Point: Help-seeking reflects awareness of needs, courage to act, and responsibility for recovery.