Pre-contemplation is the stage in which people are not intending to take action in the next six months. The people in this stage may be unaware of the consequences of their behaviour. When confronted they are likely to respond with a surprised “Who me?” They could be termed as “happy users”.
There are others in this stage who may have tried to change a number of times without success. They have become demoralised by the whole process. They will generally avoid reading, talking or even thinking about their behaviour, and will come up with a number of defenses, possibly saying things like “I don’t have a problem” or “If you had a job like mine, you would drink” (dealt with in a separate article on “Denial”)
This person will not respond positively to being forced into treatment either by peer pressure or as part of a court order. At the time of writing this article, the UK Government is contemplating (no pun intended) withdrawing state benefits to encourage alcoholics into treatment. Many drug/alcohol professionals will have doubts about the efficacy of such a programme. Firstly the system which is already under-funded, is not designed to take on a sudden influx of reluctant recovering alcoholics.
The Cycle of Change would argue against a successful outcome. The fact is that traditional health programs are often not designed for people at this stage as they are not matched to their needs.