Substance use recovery / SUR-A01-3
My Definition of Recovery — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about my definition of recovery while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Jordan wants more dependable mornings and time with family.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Recovery goals can reflect health, agency, connection, and personally meaningful change.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore my definition of recovery using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: Recovery goals can reflect health, agency, connection, and personally meaningful change. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Describe what recovery would make possible in three areas of life and choose one observable sign. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Jordan wants more dependable mornings and time with family.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: Which change matters to you rather than to someone else's expectations? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- Which change matters to you rather than to someone else's expectations?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
Conceptual background
Substance Use Disorders — National Institutes of Health
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.