Prochaska / DiClemente Transtheoretical Change Model

This transtheoretical change model emerged as an attempt to understand how to try to get people to change their addictive behaviors. Psychologists James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente came up with the idea in 1982.

These two researchers tried to understand how and why people change, whether they do it on their own or with the help of a therapist. They also outlined the stages that each person who wants to quit a habit (drugs, eating processed foods, etc.) must go through. Their model also works on most New Year’s vows you may have made.

These stages can be applied to any change you are trying to make, but they are also applicable if you get help from a therapist. With or without therapy, everyone seems to go through similar phases and process things in a similar way.

In this model  , we can see motivation as a person’s current stage or what stage of preparation they are in.  This is very important because we often use the word “motivation” incorrectly. In addition, motivation is absolutely necessary for any personality-changing process.

The wheel of change in their transtheoretical model of change

The “wheel of change” in Prochaska and DiClemente’s transtheoretical model of change states that there are four, five or six stages of change and that they are shaped like a wheel. This means that they form a circle. So people who want to quit an addictive behavior will go through the various stages of the wheel almost as if they are sliding along it.

There is a reason why it is called a wheel: in all change  processes, people go through the same process a number of times before they succeed in stabilizing a kind of change. In their previous research on smokers, Prochaska and DiClemente found that smokers go through the wheel between three and seven times (an average of four) before quitting smoking as they wished.

In this wheel, relapse is completely normal. The two researchers see it only as another stage of change. As psychologists, we sometimes tell our patients that “every relapse only takes you one step closer to full recovery.”

Of course, this does not mean that we encourage them to have relapses, not at all. We just try to remind them not to be discouraged  and fall apart when they have a relapse.

The pre-contemplative stage

The starting point for the change process is the “pre-contemplative stage”. This means that someone still does not think they have a problem or need to make any changes in their life. A “pre-contemplator” is someone who knows they have a problem, even if they are not aware of it.

The contemplative stage

Once they become aware of the problem, they will enter a period that is very much about ambivalence, the contemplative stage. Someone at this stage will at the same time think about and reject the idea of ​​change. The best way to describe their experience is a tug-of-war between reasons for change and reasons to continue living the same way.

Someone who has a problem with alcohol and finds himself at this stage, for example, might say something like:

As you can see , they may acknowledge that there is a problem but they experience it as if they have full control.

The preparation phase

In the transtheoretical change model, the preparation stage is like a window of opportunity. It paves the way for a new phase in life. If someone in this phase succeeds in moving on to the action stage,  their process of change will move forward. If not, they will return to the contemplation stage.

The stage of action

The action stage is the stage that most people see as the stage when therapy begins. This is where people start taking special measures to help them change.

For example, most people quit smoking on their own. The goal during this phase is to create a change in the problem you want to solve. But just by having the intention of change, you can not guarantee that you will maintain the change over time.

The entertainment stage

At this stage, the challenge is to maintain the change you achieved in the previous stage and not to relapse. Quitting drugs, drinking less and losing weight are all early stages of change. What comes next is to maintain that change.

Relapse

Finally,  if you have a relapse, your next step will be to return to the wheel of change  before you get stuck in that stage. Falls and relapses are completely normal. You should expect them when you try to change a behavior pattern that you have had for a long time.

To sum up, Prochaska’s transtheoretical model of change has a couple of steps that always move in circles. Someone who wants to change an addictive behavior will go through these stages in their own way  until they finally manage to manage their change.