In the last three blog posts we have discussed the stages of change and have begun to discuss the processes of change. To review briefly, Prochaska and his colleagues, through considerable research, have defined five stages that people pass through in making a major change in their lives.
The first is known as pre-contemplation in which a person is not thinking about making a change in their behavior, such as losing weight or exercising more, etc. In the second stage of change, contemplation, the person has begun to think about making these changes, and they are beginning to weigh the pros and the cons of change. They are also beginning to think about whether they actually have the ability, self-efficacy, to make the change they are considering. When people honestly believe that the pros of changing outweigh the cons and they feel that they can make the change, they will make a decision to change. They enter the decision stage of change in which they begin to make a plan for making the change. In the fourth stage of change, known as the action stage, the individual begins to implement the change and follow through with action steps. The fifth stage of change is maintenance, being able to keep doing what you're doing. Not relapsing back into smoking or gaining all the weight back that we have lost, or forgetting about the exercise program.
Prochaska and his colleagues also defined 10 processes of change. In the last blog we reviewed five of these which are tied to the first two stages of change. We pointed out that being a good coach to yourself or to others involves being able to utilize these processes. The first is being well informed about the change that you are considering. The second is allowing yourself to recognize and vent the feelings that you may have about having to change. Prochaska referred to this as "dramatic relief." The third process, self-reevaluation, involves looking at how the change will help you to achieve other goals in your life. With this process, you begin to weigh the pros and the cons of making a change in your life. In the fourth process you evaluate how making a change may make things better for you, but also for others-- your family, your community, your friends, and how not making a change can have a negative impact on both you and them; e.g., dying of lung cancer at 45 will not be a wonderful experience for you, your wife or your children. And the fifth stage of change that we discussed involved beginning to look at your ability to implement and follow through with the change that you are considering, e.g., to be able to stop smoking. Again, when people believe that they can make the change and they honestly believe that the pros of changing outweigh the cons, they will make a decision to change.
The sixth process that Prochaska defined was the process of developing supportive relationships that can help you with the change process. We all need a support network if we are going to make changes in our life. It is better to be surrounded by people who are encouraging us to change, rather than people who are negative or skeptical about our ability to do so.
The seventh process of change involves being able to continue to make changes in our thinking, to be able to substitute positive thoughts and behaviors for negative thoughts and behaviors regarding the change that we are trying to make. This means turning off a lot of the negative self-talk that we often do with ourselves that tells us that we've been doing this for years and that we're never going to be able to make the change in this and that things will just be the way they are. Often, turning off the negative self-take is more important than replacing it with positive self-talk.
The eighth process of change involves finding ways to reward ourselves and others for making the change that they have made. The rewards that you provide to yourself or to others may be small, but they are important. They are important because they recognize that you have done something difficult. Make a big deal out of it. When you haven't smoked for a month, take yourself out for a nice dinner. When you've met your first weight-loss goal, take yourself to a movie or go out to dance. Reward the actions that you have taken and the decision that you are now implementing.
The ninth process of change focuses on avoiding negativity. If you are to maintain the changes that you have made, it is important to avoid people, places and things that pull you down rather than support and facilitate the change that you have made. Anyone who is dealing with drug or alcohol abuse realizes that spending time with their drinking and drugging buddies will soon end up with them returning to their addiction.
And the last process of change that is focused on maintenance is for you and the person that you are coaching to be able to look at the big picture. At the wider view of the world in terms of how the changes that you have made fit into the larger scheme of things. How they facilitate and complement the other goals in your life and the goals of your family, friends and community.
So, good luck with your New Year's Resolutions. New Year's Resolutions are good things to make and even better things to keep.
