A stage of change approach to addiction in the medical setting

Despite recent advances in its understanding and treatment, addiction remains a difficult challenge for clinicians within medical settings such as the general hospital. The use of single, traditional paradigms (disciplinary, therapeutic, educational, or libertarian) for approaching addiction-related problems have often failed to embrace the complexity of the patients' motivation to change. Prochaska and DiClemente's [7] stage of change model offers a realistic, practical, and broadly applicable means by which clinicians can facilitate behavioral change from the stage of denial (precontemplation) through that of sustained recovery (maintenance). Clinicians can help addicted individuals to move from precontemplation to contemplation by enhancing their ambivalence; from contemplation to preparation by considering their history of change; from preparation to action by flexibly intervening based on this understanding; and from action to maintenance by evaluating the outcomes of these interventions. A stage of change model is also useful in understanding the process of change in clinicians' own approaches to patients with substance use disorders.