Clinical Prevention | Stages of Change

When people quit smoking or other forms of tobacco use, they usually go through a number of stages:

• Not thinking about quitting
• Thinking about quitting
• Preparing to quit
• Taking action to quit
• Maintaining abstinence from tobacco
• Relapse

Relapse is listed as a stage because it is a normal part of the process. You might go back to tobacco a number of times before you quit for good. Each attempt to quit teaches you valuable lessons about what sorts of things trigger you to relapse and what you can do about it. Next time you quit, you might try something different to avoid the relapse.

It's important to remember that you may not go through the stages in the order listed above. Many people go from not thinking about quitting to action for reasons like pregnancy. Your motivation to quit could change depending on the circumstances in your life.