ABSTRACT
In the Action stage, clients make changes to their drinking patterns. Treatment can be used to assist clients in making the changes, explore how well the modifications worked, and identify if those changes are maintainable in the long run. The coping skills that worked in the past may cease to help as new life challenges arise. Sometimes people have the best intentions yet still struggle with maintaining the changes to drinking patterns. The Maintenance Stage occurs after individuals have changed their drinking patterns. One of the tenets of Motivational Interviewing is assessing readiness for change. Steven Rollnick developed the Readiness Ruler, which has been shown to be an effective tool to assess if a person is ready to make changes. The Importance Scale can be helpful as well. The popular belief is that in order for people to make changes, they have to want to make changes.
