Addiction Treatment and Motivation

Addiction treatment outcomes are determined in large part by motivation. Like most endeavors that require long term actions, motivation is vitally important. In the beginning, a client’s motivation might be that some consequence will come about if the client doesn’t go to treatment, such as going to jail, or a spouse leaving, or an employer firing the person if the person doesn’t receive addiction treatment. This type of motivation is often what gets most people into addiction treatment. It’s the weakest form of motivation. 

I’ve heard many say that if a person doesn’t want addiction treatment it won’t work. This is probably true in the long run, but in the beginning a person doesn’t have to want recovery, they just have to get started. If someone’s in treatment because they’ve been given an ultimatum, that gets them exposed to information and facts. The person “forced” into treatment will be around other recovering addicts, some who want to be in treatment, and once a person is exposed to recovery ideas and has a safe place to become honest, the person can change and begin to want recovery.

The next level of motivation in addiction treatment is usually calculation — this is a stronger form of motivation. The person realizes that alcohol, opiates, cocaine or some other addictive drug has become a problem and they begin to rationally weigh the pros and cons of drug use versus recovery. The person might look at the money spent on drugs, or they might say that they can get that promotion at work if they’re more focused and clear-headed, or they might want to avoid divorce enough that they decide to give recovery a try. This might seem like motivation enough to get a person permanently in recovery but it’s often not. Calculation and rationality are good, until something bad or irrational happens. If a person is in recovery based on the idea that things will improve and life will be better, they might be disappointed in the beginning. Perhaps the spouse decides to leave even if the person is in addiction treatment, or the company fires the person regardless of the changes, or some financial hardship befalls the person. If the calculation appears to fail, and things seem worse in recovery, then the person will likely become disillusioned and give up on recovery and return to drug use.

The strongest level of motivation is commitment. This is when a person takes ownership of their own life, realizes that drugs are leading to dead ends and likely an early death. The committed person will follow treatment recommendations and will take more actions than are recommended. The committed person will consistently manage their recovery regardless of external events, such as job loss or divorce or financial difficulty. The committed person will look to the long run, but will also focus on the one day at a time concept, knowing it takes time to accomplish goals and there’ll be ups and downs along the way. The committed person will want recovery and sobriety more than they want drugs, and they’ll do what’s necessary to enhance their recovery.

A person can move through these levels in addiction treatment. It might take longer than just the treatment period, though. What I usually tell people who are less than committed is to give it a shot, at least agree to a full year following the addiction treatment recommendations. I can just about guarantee if a person goes a year following a recovery management plan, they’ll be committed by the end of the year.