Stages of change are not boxes or labels

Carlo DiClemente, Ph.D., the legendary creator, with Prochaska, of the stages of change theory for motivational interviewing, talked about the relevance of this 40-year-old model in current treatment at the annual meeting of the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) in Washington last week. He noted not to put people in one of the “boxes”: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and relapse. Substance use is more fluid than that, and in fact, relapse is not itself a substance use problem, he said — it's a problem that is probable and to be expected and dealt with in any health behavior such as diabetes, diet and exercise.