Let’s Get Curious About Change
Change is one of the most challenging aspects of personal growth, especially when it comes to addiction and mental health recovery. Many people embark on the journey toward healing with the best intentions, yet find themselves repeatedly stuck, unable to make lasting progress. Understanding why this happens can be the key to breaking free from the cycle of frustration and moving toward real transformation. By exploring the stages of change and the role of mindfulness in recovery, individuals can learn how to move past barriers and sustain meaningful progress. This is exactly what Centered aims to accomplish within our program, so let’s get curious about change!
Understanding the Stages of Change
The Stages of Change Model, developed by Prochaska and DiClemente, outlines the typical process individuals go through when working toward behavioral change:
- Precontemplation – The individual is not yet considering change and may not recognize the negative impact of their behaviors.
- Contemplation – Awareness of the problem grows, and the individual starts weighing the pros and cons of change.
- Preparation – The person begins taking small steps and developing a plan to change.
- Action – Active efforts are made to modify behaviors and establish new, healthier patterns.
- Maintenance – Sustaining change and preventing relapse becomes the primary focus.
Each stage represents a different mindset, and getting stuck often occurs between precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation, before action ever begins. Recognizing your place in this cycle can help you better understand your resistance and what’s needed to shift forward.
How Come I Keep Getting Stuck?
There are many reasons someone might struggle to move forward in recovery, even when they genuinely want to change. Most often, these reasons aren’t due to laziness or lack of willpower—they’re emotional, psychological, and deeply rooted in past experiences or limiting beliefs.
Emotional Barriers
Fear, shame, guilt, and self-doubt are some of the most common emotional blocks. For example, someone may fear who they will be without their substance of choice or feel too ashamed to fully engage in treatment. These emotional undercurrents create hesitation and avoidance, which keep people trapped in a cycle of contemplation without ever stepping into action.
Past Failures and Future Anxieties
One of the biggest reasons individuals get stuck in early recovery is an overattachment to past failures or anxieties about the future. The mind replays past mistakes or fixates on future “what-ifs,” making it difficult to focus on the present moment. This mental pattern drains emotional energy and contributes to a sense of hopelessness, discouragement, and overwhelm.
This is where mindfulness becomes an invaluable tool.
Mindfulness as a Pathway Forward
Mindfulness-based recovery provides a powerful way to reconnect with the here and now, breaking the cycle of overthinking and self-doubt. It teaches us to gently return our awareness to the present moment—without judgment—no matter how many times we drift away.
Mindfulness encourages individuals to:
- Observe thoughts and emotions without judgment
- Develop awareness of triggers and cravings
- Cultivate self-compassion instead of self-criticism
- Focus on the present moment rather than getting lost in past regrets or future fears
By shifting focus from what has happened or what might happen to what is happening, mindfulness allows space for curiosity, learning, and action. You can only create change from the present, not from guilt about the past or fear about the future.
The Role of Self-Sabotage and Negative Thinking
Another major barrier to change is self-sabotage, often fueled by negative thinking. People often believe they aren’t capable of change, or that it’s too late for them to start again. These thoughts might include:
- “I always mess things up.”
- “I’ll probably relapse again anyway.”
- “I don’t deserve a better life.”
These beliefs often lead to avoidance of action or rejection of help. Mindfulness-based approaches help you identify these thoughts as just that, thoughts, not truths. When you create space between your thoughts and your identity, it becomes possible to rewrite the narrative.
Action Is Messy, But It’s Essential
Many individuals wait until they “feel ready” to take action. But the truth is, readiness rarely arrives in a neat package with a pretty little bow on top. Action often begins with fear, discomfort, or uncertainty. In mindfulness-based recovery, we learn that we don’t have to wait until we’re confident—we only have to be willing.
Taking small steps, even imperfect ones, can generate motivation and clarity. Each mindful choice builds momentum. Progress in recovery doesn’t always look like breakthroughs. Sometimes, it looks like showing up to group on a hard day, saying no to one more drink, or sitting with discomfort rather than numbing it.
Reframing Setbacks and Returning to the Present
A core principle at Centered is that setbacks are part of the learning process, not signs of failure. Instead of responding to setbacks with shame, we guide clients to meet those moments with curiosity. What triggered this response? Were any of your emotions unacknowledged? What old patterns resurfaced?
Mindfulness allows you to slow down enough to answer these questions without judgment. You become a student of your mind and body, rather than a victim of your thoughts or behaviors.
Why Centered Takes a Different Approach
At Centered, we intentionally step away from traditional 12-step language centered on powerlessness and instead guide our clients to recognize their internal capacity for change. Through our non-12-step, mindfulness-based programs, we support individuals in:
- Gaining clarity on their values and goals
- Understanding how thoughts, emotions, and habits interact
- Developing tools to respond, not react
- Building emotional resilience and self-regulation
- Creating sustainable recovery practices that they want to maintain
You are not broken, and recovery doesn’t require you to become someone else. It asks that you return to who you are beneath the patterns, defenses, and fear.
Getting Started with Centered Today
If you feel like you keep getting stuck or can’t move past a certain point in your recovery, you are not alone. Change is hard. But with the right tools, support, and mindset, lasting transformation is absolutely possible.
Centered is here to walk that path with you. Whether you’re new to treatment, returning after a break, or simply exploring your options, our team is here to listen, support, and guide you every step of the way.
We offer:
- Intensive outpatient (IOP) and outpatient (OP) levels of care
- Individual and group therapy
- Random drug screenings for increased accountability
- Mindfulness education and daily practice
- Flexible scheduling, including evenings and virtual, for professionals and parents
Reach out today to learn more about how Centered can help you move from feeling stuck to living with purpose and clarity. You don’t have to wait for the “perfect” moment. The moment to begin is now. Call us today at 979-366-4124!
