This Week In Recovery Lesson
Stages of Change in Recovery
The changes in the lives of recovering people tend to occur in stages, from not being ready to acknowledge that a problem even exists, to actively doing whatever it takes to solve the problem.
The Stages of Change Model was originally developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente at the University of Rhode Island when they were studying how smokers were able to give up their habits. The SCM model has been applied to a broad range of behaviors including weight loss, injury prevention, overcoming alcohol, and drug problems among others.
In each of the stages, a person has to grapple with a different set of issues and tasks that relate to changing behavior.
The stages of change are:
- Precontemplation—not yet acknowledging that there is a problem behavior that needs to be changed
- Contemplation—acknowledging that there is a problem but not yet ready or sure of wanting to make a change
- Preparation/Determination—getting ready to change
- Action—Changing behavior
- Maintenance—maintaining the behavior change
- Relapse—Returning to older behaviors and abandoning the new changes
For this NewLife EXPERIENCE lesson here, the focus is on the first four changes. The precepts of FREEdom from MEdom Project is that we need to continually be in the active place of surrender in commitment to relationship with God in order to maintain recovery into the new life experience that is real freedom.
1. Pre-contemplation
- I am not in recovery at all. I am experiencing unpleasant, and perhaps severely destructive consequences in my life but I do not connect my circumstances with addictive ‘me’dom behavior. I might perceive that I am very unlucky or that the world and everyone in it seems to be out to get me—even God.
- Notice the tenor of King David’s words as you read this Psalm. He sounds like a victim who has been beaten by the world and now is taking a beating from God. David appears to lack recognition between his ‘me’dom behavior and the most severe consequences of his behavior (including incest, rape, and murder within his family , as well as a deflated kingdom).
Psalm 38:1-11:
1 O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your rage!
2 Your arrows have struck deep,
and your blows are crushing me.
3 Because of your anger, my whole body is sick;
my health is broken because of my sins.
4 My guilt overwhelms me—
it is a burden too heavy to bear.
5 My wounds fester and stink
because of my foolish sins.
6 I am bent over and racked with pain.
All day long I walk around filled with grief.
7 A raging fever burns within me,
and my health is broken.
8 I am exhausted and completely crushed.
My groans come from an anguished heart.
9 You know what I long for, Lord;
you hear my every sigh.
10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails,
and I am going blind.
11 My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease.
Even my own family stands at a distance.
-What do you suppose David is talking about?
-What would you say are David’s perceptions of God?
-What would you say David means when he says, “Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins”?
-What would you say David is talking about when he says his wounds “fester and stink”?
-What might David be talking about when he says, “My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind”?
-What would you say David is talking about when he refers to his problem as a “disease”?
2. Contemplation
- I am still not participating in recovery. I continue to reap the consequences I have sown with my behavior.
- Whether I have figured it out on my own or I am finally receiving the messages transmitted by others, I am beginning to connect the dots between ‘me’dom behavior and the severity of my circumstances.
- Notice how the tenor of King David’s words are different when he has connected the dots between his behavior and his circumstances, is broken under the weight of it all leading him into repentance and a desire for recovery in his life.
Psalm 51:
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
-What has changed for David in Psalm 51 as he prays repentantly for his selfish sin, compared to his prayer in Psalm 38?
-How would you say David’s attitude has changed?
-What would you say his perceptions of God appear to be in Psalm 51?
3. Preparation/Determination
- I now recognize that I am in trouble in my current state.
- My ‘me’dom beliefs about who and what I am and what I’ve done are killing me.
- The way I relate to others is destructive and futile.
- The way I view the world and others and allow it all to define me is damaging and I am helpless—powerless—to fix it.
- My life is unmanageable and I need help. I want help!
- What do I have to do?
4. ACTION!
- I have embraced my chance at a new life and I am fully participating in committed surrendered recovery
- I have come to believe in what it takes to successfully recover from my ‘me’dom condition.
- I am doing whatever it takes!
-What would you say are the key differences between pre-contemplation and contemplation stages of change?
-What would you say are the key differences between preparation and action stages of change?
- What will it take?
- Whatever it takes!
-What stage of change are you in now, and where would you like to be?
-What do you think it will take to move from where you are to the next stage?
-How far away from ACTION are you at your present stage of recovery?
Please now, refer to this week’s TWRAC 015 for your challenge to action.
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