This is the state in which change is 'not on the agenda' - there is NO contemplation about change at this stage. In Cognitive terms, (see Cognitive approaches to SUD-Rx) the "sums do not add up" in favour of change (see Weighing Pros and Cons); however, this may simply be because that there has been no opportunity or motivation to examine these "sums" to date.

A Mentalizing take on this:

The 'pre-contemplation' stage is really the same as saying that Pre-mentalistic stances are active.

The person who is not contemplating (or Mentalizing) their behaviours is generally in a Pretend mode ("It's fine, there isn't any problem, in fact this way of doing things is working just fine for me...") or a Teleological thinking ("Whoops, lets do it again..."). Often there may be a kind of hopelessness ("There's no point in trying anything else, this is just the way it is...") that could be described as Psychic equivalence.

...and the point of this is...

Understanding that a client is in the Pre-contemplative position is vital if the KeyWorker is to keep to one of the SUD-Rx principles that states you should Adapt your Discourse to fit the stage, or state of mind, that is being addressed (this is a profoundly Mentalizing stance, too, of course.)