But beginning in the 1980s, psychologists James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente began research which would challenge the "simple willpower" model of change:
"Many people we have interviewed first tell us, 'I just woke up one morning and quit [smoking].' [But w]hen we ask more detailed questions, they begin to remember....[1] They remember the weeks prior to that fateful morning, when perhaps they switched brands and became increasingly disgusted with smoking. [2] They remember earlier attempts to quit smoking. [3] They remember when they avoided people and the places that were filled with smoke during the two weeks after quitting. [4] They remember enlisting the aid of several friends at work by announcing their attempt to quit smoking" (page 210).
In short, Prochaska and colleagues realized that change is not a simple event, but a process, including the above techniques of [1] Preparation [2] Relapse and Renewed Resolution [3] Avoiding Tempting Environments and [4] Making one's Change-Commitment Public and tapping Helping Relationships to increase one's chance at success.
In the end, Prochaska and colleagues finally modeled change as a Five-Stage Process. They devote a chapter to each such stage in this book:
Chapter 4: Precontemplation: where a person isn't even considering changing a behavior, is in denial about it.
Chapter 5: Contemplation: where a person begins to be receptive to information about their problematic behavior, begins thinking about changing it...maybe in the next six months.
Chapter 6: Preparation: where a person makes the commitment to change, sets a date, and creates an "action plan" for changing.
Chapter 7: Action: where the person puts their Action Plan into gear, usually spending their first six months meeting a host of basic temptations, challenges, and distresses of actually changing their problematic behavior.
Chapter 8: Maintenance: where the plan is in place. The person tries to maintain their new/changed way of life. While temptations to stray are fewer at this point, the person has to be ready for sudden surprises which might knock them off the beam.
Of course, even the best-made plans can go awry. ("Everyone has a plan," boxers often say, "until you get punched in the face.") In fact, most people fall off the beam the first time they try to change some behavior (smoking, drinking, overeating, etc.). For this reason, Prochaska and colleagues added the stage of "Relapse/Recycling" to their model (Chapter 9). Happily, they've found that, even when people lapse in their change-program, many of them "recycle": they (1) try to learn from their lapse and then (2) return to their change-commitment, this time a bit wiser than before.
In this book, Prochaska et al describe each of the change-stages in detail, pointing out that certain coping-techniques are more appropriate to different stages of change. For example, while book-learning ("consciousness raising") is very helpful in the Contemplation stage, Action and Maintenance require more active coping techniques--such as learning Relaxation, or including an Exercise regimen, or learning to "talk back" to tempting thoughts (nicely summarized on page 54).
Even more fascinating, Prochaska et al point out (page 26) that different styles of psychotherapy/counseling might be more helpful to people at different stages of change. Contemplators, for instance, can profit greatly from traditional analysis (Freudian/Jungian/Gestalt/Transactional/etc). On the other hand, people at the Action/Maintenance stages might profit better from more behavior-and-relationship based therapies (Behaviorism/Cognitive/Humanistic/Existential Counseling).
But most important, this book aims to be a very detailed guide for readers who not only want to learn the psychology of change, but also want to apply this model to their own lives. For this reason, Prochaska et al (1) Walk the reader through the five stages; then (2) explain the coping techniques most helpful to each stage, (3) give real-life examples of people at each stage and the actions they took at each stage. Finally, (4) Prochaska et al apply the Stages of Change model to specific behaviors at Chapter 10: smoking, drinking and coping with psychological (di)stress.
Of course, no book can be a panacea--change is difficult no matter how much psychology one has read. (The authors are well-aware of this, and point it out repeatedly.) But this book offers a reader an eyes-wide-open vision of how real people really change, and what kinds of preparation and specific coping skills can best ensure success in changing one's life.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1939638837
