Don t delude yourself into thinking that you re strong enough to have one drink, cigarette, or brownie, and then control yourself from having another. Also, expect and be prepared for social pressure and special situations. A friend is bound to offer you a piece of cake, now that you ve lost all that weight, or a new client, unaware of your former drinking problem, might order a bottle of wine during a business dinner. Just think back to all the reasons why you stopped your negative behavior in the first place, and remember how hard it was to quit the first time. Again, relapses are not uncommon and in fact may be different for different problems.
Many people cycle through the stages more than once before effecting a permanent change.
Even so, work hard to prevent relapses. Although psychologists disagree about whether anyone actually terminates the process of change, Prochaska and his colleagues view it as a point where you are no longer tempted to return to the way things were. Someone at this stage would not even want a cigarette if it were offered to him or her. For example, most smokers who quit eventually do reach the termination stage. Relapses, while discouraging, offer the chance to try again and often individuals find they can refine and improve what they ve learned about themselves and the process of change as they re-cycle through the action and maintenance stages.