It is essential that clear guidelines are established about what is going to change, why that change is necessary and how to bring about that change. The client will be apprehensive, but will have been helped to identify his strengths and goals and weighed up the pros and cons of change. It will require commitment to the process and the client must enter into the programme of change in a positive way.
Although change can be experienced early on,progress can be erratic as the client may focus on each element in turn – changing behaviours or focussing on expressing emotions – but the aim would be to achieve a consistent well-balanced recovery across all elements.