The 5 stages of change - Transtheoretical model

Summary

When people change, they go through these stages and as a compassionate human, it’s important to understand what others are going through, what each stage looks like, how to help them move through the stages, and how to help if/when they fall off the wagon.

Favorite links

The stages (Thank you to sphweb.bumc.bu.edu website for this incredible text!)

  • Precontemplation - In this stage, people do not intend to take action in the foreseeable future (defined as within the next 6 months). People are often unaware that their behavior is problematic or produces negative consequences. People in this stage often underestimate the pros of changing behavior and place too much emphasis on the cons of changing behavior.
  • Contemplation - In this stage, people are intending to start the healthy behavior in the foreseeable future (defined as within the next 6 months). People recognize that their behavior may be problematic, and a more thoughtful and practical consideration of the pros and cons of changing the behavior takes place, with equal emphasis placed on both. Even with this recognition, people may still feel ambivalent toward changing their behavior.
  • Preparation (Determination) - In this stage, people are ready to take action within the next 30 days. People start to take small steps toward the behavior change, and they believe changing their behavior can lead to a healthier life. [ed: I believe we can infer that people will overestimate the pros of change and underestimate the cons]
  • Action - In this stage, people have recently changed their behavior (defined as within the last 6 months) and intend to keep moving forward with that behavior change. People may exhibit this by modifying their problem behavior or acquiring new healthy behaviors.
  • Maintenance - In this stage, people have sustained their behavior change for a while (defined as more than 6 months) and intend to maintain the behavior change going forward. People in this stage work to prevent relapse to earlier stages.
  • Termination - In this stage, people have no desire to return to their unhealthy behaviors and are sure they will not relapse. Since this is rarely reached, and people tend to stay in the maintenance stage, this stage is often not considered in health promotion programs.

Important takeaways for me, a person who is not a psychologist or trained counselor

  • Change can happen before people even realize it.
  • Passive actions (youtube, reading) are change. They are rewiring your brain to accept change.
  • Pay attention to their estimation of the pros/cons to determine stage. This is particularly important in retention; if someone is already in interviews (Preparation/Action), there’s a good chance they’re overestimating the pros of leaving and underestimating the cons of a new job.

The non-bite-sized version

I don’t have a fuller version of this one. I’m not a trained psychologist or counselor, so I don’t feel qualified to write about this at length.

If you want to learn more, I would highly encourage you to read or watch the links above; they’re amazing.