What harmful substance use habit are you going to help your loved one change this week?

support

#1

The role we play, loving someone who is or has struggled with addiction, is powerful because we can use our knowledge and insights to identify:

  1. harmful substance use habits
  2. behavioral patterns to interrupt
  3. positive activities to reinforce

Identifying achievable and time-bound (weekly) actions we can take to influence our loved one’s habits - to promote more healthy and interrupt harmful behaviors - is the best example of us stepping into our power.

So what is one goal and action you will take this week?


#3

@Jane I love the goal-action model you laid out for this week!

It’s super important to remain as specific as possible when it comes to these goals and plans. For everyone in the community, there’s actually an evidence-based goal strategy that significantly increases the likelihood that you may achieve a goal. It’s called WOOP!

It stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. And it can totally be used to help start up behavior change in you or your loved one!

It’s super easy, and only takes a few minutes.

The first step is to identify and imagine a wish you would like to fulfill within the next week. You have to name a wish that is challenging, but feasible. For @polly, this would be helping your husband drink less at social activities. Really imagine and visualize the wish and the associated images that may come to mind. Give yourself all the time you need to create a crystal-clear idea of this in your head. :slight_smile:

The second step is to identify the best possible outcome of this wish. As @polly said, the best outcome of her wish would be that she and her husband would be more present and develop authentic relationships with new friends. Again, take the time to visualize the associated images that might come to mind during this step. :slight_smile:

The third step is to find a main obstacle that might stand in your way of fulfilling this wish. For instance, peer pressure to drink. Oftentimes we only think on the positiv side— as in polly’s case, with just thinking about the goal and the positive action she’ll take. However, taking a few minutes to contemplate a potential obstacle that might stand in the way is the key ingredient that’s been shown in several studies to increase the likelihood that you’ll achieve a goal or fulfill a wish. It strengthens the mental link between the goal and the obstacle in your mind, and the subsequent obstacle and the plan you take to get around that obstacle.

The last step is plan. Here, you’ll design an if-then plan of how to overcome the specific obstacle you stated. For instance, in polly’s case, if my husband is peer-pressured to drink, then we’ll go out and take a walk for a few minutes. Or, if my husband is peer-pressured to drink, then we’ll remind him of his drink count.

It’s a simple, four-step strategy that’s been statistically proven to work in several areas— there has even been a research study that shows it significantly reduces the amount of alcohol one drinks!


#2

My goal is to help my husband drink less at social activities so that we can be more present and develop authentic relationships with new friends.

My action this week will be to have a conversation with my husband about how we might be more present at social engagements and how to think about drinking - a suggestion I would like to float is that we have a drink count, but I will start by asking him what he thinks might help interrupt the habit of not stopping drinking once he starts.

Another ideas might be - water then wine (one-for-one) :slight_smile:


#4

Love this - woop, woop!

tenor%20(2)


#5

Goal is to get more information about how dad is spending his time these days.
Action is to call him at least once this week to catch up & get curious!