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Stages of Change
The stages of change model was developed in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente when working with people who smoke.
The stages of change are as follows:
- Precontemplation. This is the stage where the person does not yet acknowledge that there is a behavior that needs to be changed. In this stage people tend to defend their behavior despite others attempts to encourage change.
- Contemplation. In this stage there is an acknowledgment that there is a problem, but the person isn’t ready or wants to make a change. They are aware of the consequences of the problem but tend to be ambivalent about it.
- Preparation/Determination. This is the ‘getting ready to change’ stage. The stage where the person becomes motivated to change, even if they don’t know how yet. they may ask advice, read information etc about how.
- Action/Willpower. In this stage the person believes they can change and are actively taking steps to change. This stage can last from an hour to a year. During this stage external support can be a huge benefit.
- Maintenance. This involves being able to successfully avoid or manage temptations to fall into old behaviours. In this stage it can be helpful for the person to review their progress to date. it is also involves acquiring new skills and techniques to manage stressful or difficult situations.
- Relapse. Perhaps maybe seen apart from the stages of change but still associated with it, the person returns to the old behaviours, abandoning the new changes. When relapsing the person has feelings of discouragement. Those who relapse may feel like a failure, however the truth is quite often relapse is quite normal. During this time the person can look at why they relapsed, use it as an opportunity to learn to cope differently, learn to manage difficult situations more effectively.
Lastly, it is normal to reach one stage only to fall back to a previous stage. This is just a normal part of making changes in your behavior.
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This article was written by sentientcounselling