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in this video we're going to talk about
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change
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and we're going to learn a model that
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describes the process of change and the
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stages we need to go through in order to
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make change happen
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and it's known as the transtheoretical
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model of change
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transtheoretical because it describes
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the process of change that unfolds
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regardless of the theory behind that
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change
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and the part of the model that's most
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well known and that we're going to look
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at in this video are the stages of
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change
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and the stages of change model is often
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used in treating addiction and for
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changes that involve adopting a
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healthier lifestyle like getting in
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shape or losing weight
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and the model applies to any sort of
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behavioral change like changing a habit
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into almost any sort of change we might
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try to make for personal growth or just
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to improve the quality of our lives
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so there are six stages of change
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pre-contemplation
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contemplation
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preparation
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action
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maintenance
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and then there's relapse which isn't
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technically a stage but a regression to
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an earlier stage and we move from the
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action or maintenance stage back to
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preparation contemplation or
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pre-contemplation
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and finally termination
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and the stages of change model focuses
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on how do we move from one stage of
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change on to the next in other words
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what needs to happen to move us from
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thinking about change to actually
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initiating and maintaining that change
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so let's look at these stages in more
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detail
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in the pre-contemplation stage
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we're not even contemplating change yet
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sometimes we don't see our behavior as a
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problem so there's no motivation to
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change anything
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or we may recognize there's a problem
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but we don't think we have any control
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over the problem so we feel resigned to
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things staying the way they are
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we might have unsuccessfully tried to
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change a number of times in the past
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and that's led us to believe that change
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isn't even possible
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or maybe we feel like we've always been
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an angry person there's nothing i can do
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to control my anger i was born that way
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sometimes i just snap
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and so again we're not contemplating
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change because we don't even think
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change is possible
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in pre-contemplation even though we're
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not thinking about change there are
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often other people who are urging us to
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change
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sometimes it's a spouse or partner or
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family member who's telling us we need
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to stop drinking or work on our anger
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issues
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or maybe a doctor is telling us to lose
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weight or change our diets or start
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exercising
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or maybe attending addictions counseling
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or anger management is a condition of
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probation
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so in the pre-contemplation stage often
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someone else has identified an issue
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that they want us to change even if
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we're not on board with trying to change
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it and not even thinking about it
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so in order to move from
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pre-contemplation to contemplation there
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has to be some sort of shift in our
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perspectives
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if we were to do a list of the pros and
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cons of changing the prose part of the
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list would be pretty sparse
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and we usually don't start to
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contemplate change until we start to
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recognize more pros of changing
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but if we're trying to encourage someone
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else to start contemplating change the
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best thing we can do is to just listen
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to them be supportive and offer empathy
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we can gently let them know how their
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behavior is affecting us
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gently point out ways in which their
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behavior is negatively impacting them or
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isn't aligned with some of their goals
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or values
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we can offer information and encourage
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them to look at some of the pros of
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changing
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and to assess the risks of their current
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behavior and so on but these are more
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things we would try in therapy and could
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be really hard to pull off with a friend
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or loved one and in the
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pre-contemplation stage they're not
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likely to be very receptive
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and even when we do our best to be
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non-judgmental and gentle with them
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we're often met with defensiveness or
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anger
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there's no easy way to help someone move
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from pre-contemplation to contemplation
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and it can be frustrating and
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aggravating to even attempt
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now in the contemplation stage we
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acknowledge that there is or might be a
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problem and maybe we'll try to do
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something about it maybe we'll try to
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change and maybe we won't
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we can go back and forth one day ready
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to start changing
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and then having second thoughts the next
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the main strategy we use to help move us
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from contemplation to preparation is
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called decisional balance which refers
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to weighing the pros and cons of change
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so we want to look at the pros and cons
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or benefits versus costs or advantages
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and disadvantages of changing
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and the pros benefits advantages
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and cons costs and disadvantages of not
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changing
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so the pros of changing
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the pros of cutting back on our drinking
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for example could be something like this
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and then the cons of changing the cons
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of cutting back on our drinking could be
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something like this
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and then the pros and cons of not
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changing
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and so the pros of not cutting back on
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our drinking could look something like
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this
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and the cons of not cutting back on our
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drinking could look something like this
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and if the pros or benefits of changing
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and the costs of not changing
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outweigh the costs of changing and
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benefits of not changing then we may be
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ready to move on to the preparation
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stage
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but committing to change can be hard
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and so we can waver in our commitments
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to change
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we can spend a lot of time contemplating
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change before ever deciding that we're
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actually ready to start preparing to
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change and sometimes we never even get
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out of the contemplation stage
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but if we've decided we're ready to
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change
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we move into the preparation stage
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so we sometimes start this stage by
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talking to people and getting advice
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doing some research
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maybe even watching a self-help video or
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reading a self-help book
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or working with a personal trainer or
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therapist
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and eventually setting a goal for our
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change and coming up with a plan of
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action to make it happen
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now sometimes the reason we find it
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difficult to change is that our goals
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are poorly formed
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maybe they're too vague like i'm going
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to get into shape
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or our goals are unrealistic i'm never
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going to lose my temper again
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or our plans are poorly formed and
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unrealistic
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i'm going to quit drinking by still
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going to the bar with my friends every
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weekend but i'm just going to order
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cranberry juice
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i'm going to get in shape and lose
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weight by going to the gym seven days a
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week and not eating any junk food or
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fast food for the next three months
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so if we enter the action stage with
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unrealistic goals and poorly formed
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plans
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our attempts to take action will usually
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not be successful
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so the best thing we can do is to just
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accept and acknowledge that our goals
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and plans need some adjusting
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go back to the preparation stage and
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come up with more achievable goals and
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more actionable plans
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and only then move back to the action
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stage and start initiating these plans
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and i've got videos in the works on
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creating action plans and setting goals
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that i'll link to in the description
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that go into a lot more detail than we
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have time for here
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and then once we've come up with a good
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plan of action in the preparation stage
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the action stage is where we put our
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plans into action and start initiating
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change
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and so what we do at this stage will
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depend on our plans
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but whatever the plan we need to realize
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that change is usually incremental and
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might not always happen as quickly as
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we'd like so we need to be patient and
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compassionate towards ourselves
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reward our successes
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but not beat up on ourselves if
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sometimes we take a step or two back
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and if we get a little stuck
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we can see if we can revise our plans a
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bit to help us keep making progress or
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strategize how to overcome any obstacles
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or difficulties we face while still
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continuing to take some action rather
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than completely withdrawing from the
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action stage and going back into
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preparation again
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in the first few times we get to the
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action stage and start trying to
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implement changes it's likely we won't
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be completely successful
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most of the time it takes multiple
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attempts to be able to affect stable
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enough change to move on to the
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maintenance stage so it's not unlikely
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that we'll relapse which in this model
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refers to regressing to an earlier stage
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so moving from the action or maintenance
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stages back to preparation or
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contemplation or even pre-contemplation
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so maybe we quit drinking for a couple
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of weeks but then we get drunk one
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weekend and then also the next
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where we start eating well and losing
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weight but then we have a bad day and
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binge junk food
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and then feel bad about that and binge
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the next day as well
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or we go a few weeks without losing our
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tempers but then one day we just explode
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and sometimes we can have a little slip
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up and continue taking action without
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actually relapsing and regressing to an
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earlier stage
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but if we do relapse and aren't able to
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just pick up from where we left off and
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continue with the change that we've
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started
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again it's important to try to practice
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self-compassion as feeling guilt or
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shame about relapsing will only make it
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more difficult to recover from that
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relapse
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so it's great if we can give ourselves
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some credit for any progress we did make
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and the more we're able to do this
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the more likely it is we only regress to
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the preparation stage
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and then maybe we're ready to get back
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on that horse and start working on a new
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plan relatively quickly
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but often we'll regress back to the
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contemplation or pre-contemplation
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stages and then need to find a way to
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recommit the change before we're ready
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to enter the preparation stage again
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and in the stages of change model
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relapse is seen as an upward spiral
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which means that we learn from each
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relapse so having relapsed we can
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incorporate what we've learned from this
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attempt to change into our next attempts
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making it more likely that they'll be
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successful
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and if we do implement the changes in
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the action stage that we set out to make
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we're ready to move on to the
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maintenance stage
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where we work on sustaining these
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changes
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and resist temptations that could lead
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to relapse or any gradual resumption of
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the behaviors we've changed and moved
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away from
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if we've lost some weight and developed
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some healthier habits we want to keep
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that weight off
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and continue with whatever habits helped
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us get to this stage
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keep doing what we've been doing that's
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been working for us
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and in the maintenance stage we reaffirm
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our goals and commitments to change
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and want to identify any triggers that
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could lead to relapse
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and have plans in place to manage any
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barriers or obstacles that could make it
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hard for us to sustain our change
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and often maintenance is the final stage
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of change
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because for many changes in behaviors
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complete termination of the old
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behaviors where there's never any
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temptation to resume those behaviors and
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absolutely no possibility of backsliding
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or relapse isn't really that viable and
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so it's more about continuing with the
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maintenance stage indefinitely
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but sometimes we can reach the
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termination stage
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if we used to be a smoker it's now like
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we never developed a habit in the first
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place
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and there's not really much to say about
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the termination stage because here
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whatever problem we've identified that
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we wanted to change is no longer a
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problem and it's not going to be a
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problem again and so there's nothing
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left to do
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so please help me out by liking this
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video leaving a comment and subscribing
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make more videos like this i really
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appreciate it and please check out the
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