The 6 Stages of Change

Written by John Carcerano 6 stages of change researched and developed by Prochaska and DiClemente mid 1990's
6 Stages of change
Chart your progress to recovery





1. Pre-contemplation
2. Contemplation
3. Preparations
4. Action
5. Maintenance
6. Relapse








`1.Pre-contemplation:
This is the stage when you are heavily caught up in your addiction. You are continuing to use and you get offended by anyone who tells you that you have a problem. You are in full denial that you even have a problem with alcohol or drugs and you have no intentions of quitting. Your life completely centers on using drugs and alcohol even at the cost of neglect to your job, your health and your loved ones.


2. Contemplation:
You are having problems functioning, and you have done things while high you wish you hadn’t. You made a fool of yourself over the weekend and you smashed the door on your car. You feel real tired of using but you really don’t know how to quit. You have told yourself you have a problem with drugs and alcohol and you admitted to your family that you really need to get help for your addiction. You are feeling extremely guilt ridden over the strained relations with your family. You are afraid that your spouse is going to leave you and your world is falling apart. You told yourself that you need to find a way to make a change.


3. Preparation:
You realize that you must quit using alcohol and drugs. You have tried quitting for a few days and you really know that this cannot go on anymore. Your problems are at a crisis stage and you know it. You know that the time has come to seriously make a decision about joining AA and getting away from all your drunken friends. You have made plenty of phone calls to detoxification wards and you are getting more and more information about what you need to know in order to get help from others. You are just a nervous wreck all the time now and you are sick of being hung-over all the time.

4. Action:
You have just made up your mind and have quit your addiction cold turkey. You are a little scared but you are happy with your choice. You are faithfully going to AA/NA meetings, you have called a counselor for regular visits and you have been reading a lot of material about addiction recovery. You have been avoiding all the people and places you used to go when you used. You are now living clean and sober and are very excited where your life is heading. You are eating nutritional meals more often and you are making amends to your family by spending more free time with them instead of being out all night at the saloon. You’re now starting to sleep better and have been actively adjusting your schedule to leave no open time where you are bored with nothing to do. All of your new clean and sober friends like you and they are helping you adjust to your new life in recovery. You have just found a sponsor who can help you understand how to deal with the tough and stressful issues as they come along.


5. Maintenance:
You have been clean and sober now for over 3 months and you are adjusting well. When you feel the urge to use you have been calling one of your many new friends from AA/NA and you are learning to deal with your tough situations on a daily basis. You think only for the moment at hand and you never get overwhelmed with past problems nor do you think too heavily about tomorrow or next week. Just for today. You are truly a good example of what getting clean is all about. You fully realize that you don’t want to see any of your old friends anymore and life is going well at this point.


6. Relapse:
This is where you have lost touch with the reasons you wanted to stay clean. You had a tough week and instead of calling your sponsor to get help and advice you gave into the urge to stop at the bar where your old friends still hang out and get high and drunk. You feel tremendous guilt over everything and your attitude is one of not caring anymore. You have stopped seeing your counselor and your spouse is now talking to a lawyer about a divorce. You’re using drugs and alcohol again and nothing matters to you anymore.