Nada’s Reviews > Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change > Status Update

When we start working with someone, we encourage the person to identify every reason (or motivation) to change but we also suggest that they not get too attached to any given one. We want them to be prepared for the shifts in motivation that will inevitably come with time.

maybe he would have been more motivated to exercise if his doctor told him he must lose fifty pounds or have a heart attack. The point? Motivation is specific to a behavior and a context, and you can be an influence for good when you understand that.

The reality is that the motivation to use a substance rather than engage in some other behavior is based on how the outcome of that choice feels to the person—smoking pot feels relaxing, for example, and doing a crossword feels boring. By understanding the different motivations behind each choice your loved one makes, you will be better equipped to look at the problem clearly without judging.

Motivation is a state, specific to a given behavior, not a general trait inherent in a person.

The traditional treatment mandate to “come back when you’re ready” partly got it right: maintaining change usually requires that people develop their own reasons for wanting that change.

The brain and the world in which it operates are inextricably intertwined; we literally take in substances, people, and other stimuli, and they affect the very structure and functioning of our brains.
you can see the value in staying engaged. Your loved one is affecting his brain chemistry with substances; you can affect his brain chemistry with the way you interact.

Motivation works in the same way with the decision to use a substance. Substance use increases dopamine in the brain (or the substance itself acts like dopamine). If someone who is struggling with depression uses cocaine and feels more alert, engaged, and less tired, they may be motivated to use cocaine to “feel better” again, even though going on a camping trip would also make the person feel better.

When we’re there, we take in the sounds, smells, and adventure of the experience and dopamine flows and we feel good. In the end, the decision to do all the work associated with a camping trip is motivated by the anticipation and actual reward of smelling pine needles, hearing babbling brooks, and eating s’mores.