No time to read? No problem! I’ve made an audio version, so I’ll read it to you.
It takes a special kind of human to work in the health care industry. I’m thankful to everyone who dedicates their life and livelihood to this field of care that keeps getting spread thinner with fewer resources and bloated bureaucracies. It’s a broken system that I hope to see improve during my lifetime!
I spend much of my working days on the telephone with people who call to ask for help. During a 15-minute complimentary consultation call I can quickly identify:
- Their current situation.
- The #1 thing holding them back.
- A plan for change.
On that consult call, I ask 3 questions:
- What do you want?
- Why do you want it?
- On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being highest, how motivated are you to make the changes you need to make to get what you say you want?
Most people answer #3 with a 7. What that tells me is that they’re not ready.
I stand by my ethos that recovery doesn’t take long. It takes a persistent willingness to exert consistent efforts to help ourselves.
We’ve accepted a “system of recovery” that doesn’t work. We keep adding time to residential programs – but time is not the issue, and more time is not the answer.
Bio/psycho/social factors aside, recovery simply takes a persistent willingness to exert consistent efforts to help yourself. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. If it was easy, everyone would do it!
The Stages of Change model (developed by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente in the 1970s) is widely used to describe the stages involved with any behavioural change.
The Stages of Change
Pre-contemplation (not ready): People at this stage are often resistant to change and don’t realize (or accept) that their behaviours are problematic. Precontemplators may show up for therapy because of external factors & pressures from family members, employers, courts, etc. People in this stage usually place responsibility for their problems on someone else or some situation or circumstance they can’t or won’t change.
Contemplation: People at this stage are not necessarily unmotivated or in denial but they are somewhat ambivalent. They have mixed feelings and aren’t sure how to choose a course of action.
Preparation: People at this stage are ready to plan with a detailed list of things they will start doing to make the changes they want to make.
Action: People at this stage are taking the necessary actions to achieve their goals. They also continue to work at understanding their past behaviours while continuing to build their resilience to cope with life’s challenges in healthier ways.
Maintenance: People at this stage are continuing to work on their plan by adding practical methods, building supportive relationships, and identifying new activities.
Understanding this process can help you:
- prepare to take these steps
- decide how you can best tackle them, and
- follow through on your goals.
The Stages of Change can help match different tasks and tools for each stage which can help you develop your own roadmap to recovery & better mental health.
If you’re ready to build better habits and foster better mental health, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line at info@redroofrecovery.com. Let’s connect and start your journey together!
Tanya MacIntyre is a Certified CBT Practitioner, Mental Health Professional, and owner/operator of Red Roof Recovery.
DISCLAIMER: This content is not intended to constitute, or be a substitute for, medical diagnosis or treatment. Never disregard medical advice from a doctor, or delay in seeking it, because of something you have watched, read, or heard from anyone at Red Roof Recovery.