CBAs and VACIs
The cost benefit analysis can be applied to almost every part of life. This is a tool that is useful for much more than evaluating the behavior of addictive substance use. I believe that overcoming addiction has a lot to do with examining the etiology of the abuse. Maybe I drink because I feel guilty or because I feel grief. Maybe I use drugs because life seems boring and pointless. By conducting a cost benefit analysis in other areas of life, the art of decision making is enhanced. We make better decisions, our lives improve. The strategy of living well becomes second nature, and life becomes more meaningful and fulfilling without intoxication.
The other kudos that I would offer to the SMART approach involves the vital absorptive creative interest.
I think many people suggest the advice of working longer hours to recover or going to more face to face meetings. I think that attaching one’s recovery to the behavior of other people is dangerous business. So, we might see people who quit because they are being pressured by their spouse, their boss, the police, their children…whatever. This reason for quitting is said to be as effective as any other reason when it comes to overcoming addiction. But I wonder. What if you break up with your spouse, or your children move away or your boss gets hit by a train? Now you have decided to quit for a reason that you have no control over, and that reason is gone. If people work longer hours or go to more face to face meetings when they quit, what happens if they lose their job? What happens if their sponsor falls off the wagon? Once again, suddenly the addict/alcoholic is left with no outlet.
By exploring our own vital absorptive creative interest, we develop an outlet which makes life meaningful. We also have control over this. If I decide to go running, or lift weights, or photograph animals, or scuba dive, or jump out of airplanes, or start playing a musical instrument, or read novels…..you get the idea….I have given my life more direction. I have given myself something to do besides get loaded. I have made life more fun and interesting for myself, so I am not simply drinking or using out of pure boredom. When stressful things happen, I have an interest that I can escape to and get lost in without making a trip to my dealers house or the liquor store.