Substance use recovery / SUR-A13-3
Recovery and Loneliness — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about recovery and loneliness while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Jordan wants company without discussing recovery at every meeting.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Connection should be chosen, accessible, and culturally fitting.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore recovery and loneliness 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: Connection should be chosen, accessible, and culturally fitting. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Compare several ways of connecting, including peer support, a hobby, faith, family, or a quiet shared activity. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Jordan wants company without discussing recovery at every meeting.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: Which setting offers belonging on your terms? 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 setting offers belonging on your terms?
- 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.