From the Greenagel Equations
The Greenagel Equations are a set of practical frameworks developed between 2005 and 2008 in school, outpatient and family treatment settings. They were built in rooms, not in theory, and have been used with students, families, law enforcement, veterans and therapists.
Tr = C x Ti
Trust = Consistency x Time
If consistency is low, trust remains low, no matter how much time passes.
If time is short, trust remains low, no matter how sincere the behavior is.
Only when both increase does trust rise meaningfully.
Multiplication matters. Not addition.
I developed this in an outpatient group. Clients in early recovery complained
- “I’ve been sober for three weeks. Why don’t they trust me?”
- “It’s been six months. What else do they want?”
- “It’s been two years. Why are they still cautious?”
They confused improved mood, verbal remorse, insight, intentions and sobriety with trust.
The equation cut through it.
I originally wrote it as consistency over time. A client corrected me. “Divided doesn’t work. It’s multiplied.” He was right.
Trust is behavioral. Not emotional.
Hope. Love. Guilt. Fear.
None of these belong in the equation.
Only
- What do you consistently do;
- over how much time
Trust is rebuilt over small repeated behaviors. Over long stretches. Without drama.
You don’t earn back 10 years of broken trust in 90 days.
A client at three weeks sober:
- C = high
- Ti = extremely low
Multiplication keeps trust score low.
This helps families see they are not cruel or unforgiving. It shows they are rational.
A husband who has been caught texting other women three different times over an eight year marriage:
- C = low
- Ti = high
It shows she is rational.
Trust is not repaired by apology. It is repaired by predictable behavior over time.
I had a client who, in his addiction, burned his parents’ house down.
He talked about it in our first group. That was about ten years ago. His family came to multi-family group. It was his mother and stepfather – which added its own layer of tension and history. We didn’t go near the fire. We worked on the basics: staying sober, going to group, telling the truth, no drama.
The family kept coming.
At nine months sober, during a three chair exercise in the middle of the room, he apologized for burning the house down. It was touching and slightly funny at the same time. Every witness had the good grace not to laugh. There is no small way to say a sentence like that.
It mattered.
Over time, he was allowed to visit the new home. Trust was not restored because of the apology alone. It was rebuilt because of consistent behavior over consistent time.
- C = high
- Ti = medium
Trust returned slowly.
Students at Elizabeth once described a male social studies teacher as being “on the rag.” I was writing at the board when I heard it. I turned around.
“That is not appropriate.”
“Mister, he is. Some days he is easy going. Other days he comes in and it’s like his wife told him she wanted a divorce at breakfast. We never know what we are going to get.”
“Well, that’s a better way to put it.”
“With you we know what every day is going to be like.”
C = low
Ti = high
Trust remains low.
Time is the proof.
If you want trust, multiply.