Skip to content

THE INTERSECTION OF

SCIENCE & KINDNESS

As a team, we are driven by an optimism about people's capacity to change
and a commitment to the science of change.

WHO WE ARE

The Center for Motivation & Change (CMC) is a group practice of dedicated clinicians and researchers who rely on science and kindness to help people change. We employ respectful, flexible, evidence-based approaches to address substance use and compulsive behavior problems as well as other mental health issues, including trauma.

Through compassion, collaboration, and the best science has to offer, we help people make life-enhancing and long-lasting changes. Let us help you find a path toward change that leaves you feeling better and more motivated, with greater mastery over your life, and empowered to pursue what matters most to you.

OUR APPROACH

We built CMC at the intersection of science and kindness. From science, we get evidence-based principles, tools, and strategies proven to help people change; from kindness we get the glue that holds these ideas and practices together, making them meaningful and sustainable. As we see it—not just in general but over and over again with our clients:
science plus kindness equals change.

At the core of all change is the decision to take action. Powerful tools exist for effecting change, but they are of little help if you have not first made the difficult decision to use them. At CMC, we will help you identify your own personal and compelling reasons for change and map out a path you can endorse, not just endure.

Our positive, holistic approach is designed to support real and lasting change. Focusing solely on stopping unwanted behaviors is rarely as successful as developing a fuller and more fulfilling life. Our therapists use motivational and cognitive-behavioral strategies to help you accomplish your goals. We will collaborate with you to understand the relationship between your thoughts, emotions, sensory experiences, values, and behavior. We will help you make changes that leave you feeling better and more motivated, with greater mastery over your life, empowered to pursue what matters most to you.

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

Have any questions? Want more information? We can help!

NH-boook-cover-compressed@2x

GET OUR NEW WORKBOOK

The Beyond Addiction Workbook for Family & Friends

This healing and supportive workbook offers practical, evidence-based skills to help you address substance use or other compulsive behaviors with your loved one in a productive way—without creating conflict. You’ll also gain a greater understanding for their struggle and learn essential strategies for improving communication and coping with your own feelings.

OUR NON-PROFIT

CMC:Foundation for Change is dedicated to providing evidence-based tools for change to everyone who cares about a person struggling with substance use. Through training, support groups, and community infrastructure building, we use the Invitation to Change approach (ITC) to help family, friends, treatment providers, and community leaders have a positive impact on the terrible toll taken by substance use. The Invitation to Change is our “science and kindness” approach, using evidence-based methods that have been shown—in studies with real families—to be effective at helping people change. ITC groups are an alternative to support groups like Al-Anon, which are helpful to many families, but are not evidence-based.

IN THE PRESS

A Controversial New Way To Think About Addiction

Wilkens talks about the stigma around substance abuse, potential alternatives to abstinence, and the role of meditation in recovery.

Elise Loehnen

Carrie Wilkens, PhD is a psychologist who is attempting to change the way we think about and address recovery and treatment

Words Matter: Addiction and Stigmatizing Language

Carrie Wilkens, Ph.D., Jeffrey Foote, Ph.D., and Ken Carpenter Ph.D. Words matter. Our society’s beliefs about substance use and compulsive behavior problems—and the potential for change—are built into the words we use to speak about these issues.