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Taken from the Feeling
Great Newsletter #128
http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com
Ready For A Change?
You set a goal. It seems right. You know it's
something you have to do, but it fades away
rapidly. What happened?
It's possible you weren't prepared for actual
change. Prochaska, respected behavioral health
scientist, once became quite confused in his
work with smokers. It appeared to him that folks
were genuinely seeking his smoking cessation
services who genuinely wanted to quite smoking.
He believed he had a good treatment program, yet
the relapse rate was terrible.
He buckled down and began to research the change
process. I think you'll find it interesting what
he learned. Here are the six steps he came up
with. These stages of change apply to anything
we might want to change.
PRECONTEMPLATION
Someone in this stage may say, "Uh, what
problem?" We often say these folks are in denial
of what appears so obvious to those around them.
But, it would be important to remember that all
these stages appear to be a natural part of the
change process for most people. Getting stuck in
one stage may prove painful however.
CONTEMPLATION
There's a lot of ambivalence in this stage. A
person may feel anger, fear or grief when
considering the need to give up a way of living
like stopping smoking, going back to work, or
the need to be more patient with the children.
It's common for someone in this stage to
identify the barriers which would make it
impossible to make a change right now.
PREPARATION
This stage can fool you. It looks like change is
on the way. A person acknowledges, in this phase
of change, the need for change. This is the part
that can be misleading. Acknowledging the need
for change does, in no way, mean that change is
imminent. This rung on the ladder of change is
appropriately named as a prep period before
actual change can take place. This is a time to
solidify the desire for change and to assess the
needed resources it will take to begin to enact
change in your life.
ACTION
Ahhh... finally change is happening. Here, after
much thought is given to whether or not a
problem exists, and after lining up goals and
resources the plan begins to unfold. Objectives
are set in motion. Action is taken to access
necessary resources and there is forward motion.
Additionally, there may be tweaks needed to the
original plan and then one begins to achieve the
desired goals.
MAINTENANCE/RELAPSE
Once a goal has been initially obtained, there
is often a need to maintain some of the
behaviors that were put into place to achieve
the goal. If you acted on a 6-step plan to clear
the clutter from your house, it makes sense that
you will have to do a minimum of maintenance
activities to sustain the gains you've
accomplished. Relapses are expected. No one is
perfect. It's vital to use relapses as a
learning ground. Use the experience to "fail
forward," versus throwing in the towel when
things don't continue as smoothly as in the
first part of the action phase.
TERMINATION
For some, termination may never come. The
recovering alcoholic may feel compelled to trim
back to one AA meeting a week after one year of
recovery, but no less.
Yet, in the case where someone makes the goal to
save "x" number of dollars for a down payment on
a new home, the budget crunch goals may be over
with after the initial goal is completed. I tend
to coach folks to maintain good habits once
established though, because it tends to bleed
over and make other parts of your life much more
full.
You will naturally see yourself in these stages
from previous changes you've made. You may even
find yourself within this change process now.
Whether you or a loved one is wrestling in these
stages, I can help. There are strategies which
can shorten the time spent in each of these
areas. Let me know if I can help you reach that
new goal in a shorter time than it might take on
your own.
Check out Prochaska's book
Changing For Good. It's a great book with much
more detail.
"How to Stop Anxiety Now",
David Larson, MS, CPCC-Money-back guarantee!
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