Substance use recovery / SUR-A02-5
Reasons for Change and Ambivalence — Review journal
Review an attempt at reasons for change and ambivalence and choose what to keep, change, or leave aside.
10 minutes · Journal prompts · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Jordan wants fewer consequences and worries about losing a familiar coping strategy.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Mixed feelings can be explored without demanding readiness.
Before looking back
Choose one ordinary attempt or decide to review the fictional example instead. This journal has no scores, required disclosure, or expectation of progress.
Revisit the practice
Place reasons to change, reasons to hesitate, and needed supports in separate columns.
Notice context and impact
Record what actually happened, including an unhelpful or neutral outcome. Note resources, power differences, accessibility, and changed conditions rather than attributing everything to personal effort.
Choose a revision
What deserves understanding before a next step is chosen? Keep the approach, change one part, ask for support, or set it aside. A mismatch is useful information.
Prompts for this resource
- What I tried, or what happened in the fictional example:
- What I noticed before, during, and after; what remains uncertain:
- What helped, did not help, or was outside my control:
- What deserves understanding before a next step is chosen? My optional adjustment or support request:
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.