The therapeutic community (TC) is a culture of change. All of the activities, social roles, interpersonal interactions, and community teachings focus upon the theme of individual change. The perceptions that are considered to be essential to recovery are interrelated, although they can be organized into classes to clarify their contribution to the process. Perceptions related to treatment reflect the individual’s motivation, readiness, and suitability to engage in the process of change in the TC. Self-control is indicated when individuals perceive the problem as internal rather than external, as one of regulating their impulses. Perceptions of self-management of patterns of behaviors, attitudes, and feelings depend upon previously learned control of specific behaviors in various situations. Assessing and affirming individual progress is a central activity in the TC. Staff evaluations formally assess the levels of self-change, while peers and staff assess them informally.

As components of the therapeutic community (TC) treatment model, the stages define the program’s plan for moving individuals toward the goals of social and psychological change. This chapter describes the process of change in the TC in terms of participation and levels of involvement. It focuses on participation and community as method through the program stages. The chapter outlines some relations between the social and psychological dimensions of individual change and the community expectations for participation. It also describes the process of multidimensional change through treatment in terms of levels of involvement in the community. Participation and involvement link community as method to the individual in the change process. The terms engagement, immersion, and emergence label the individual’s level of involvement in the community. Perceptions related to self and identity are incremental through the levels of involvement.