Making Change
Source: The Behavior Change spiral from
"What do they want us to do now?" AFAO
1996
"What do they want us to do now?" AFAO
1996
Considerations:
While counselling therapy can not pretend to change a client's environment, through personal development and growth, clients gain the confidence and ability to assert themselves and address their own needs by freeing themselves of old wounds & dependencies. Through internal change clients will begin to see concrete changes in their lives by attracting to themselves a healthier lifestyle and network of support. |
Each of the five stages of behaviour change involves different cognitive
processes and so, requires different treatments or intervention strategies
for the overall change process to be successful, matching interventions to
the stage of readiness of the individual.
Stage 1: Pre-contemplation At this stage there is no intention to engage in
any change behaviour indeed the individual may be in denial or oblivious to
the fact that anything is wrong or needs changing.
Stage 2. Contemplation At this stage there is an awareness that a problem
exists and there is serious consideration of actions to address the problem.
Stage 3: Preparation Once someone reaches this level of motivation there
is both intention to change and some behaviour modification, usually minor,
often meeting with limited success.
Stage 4: Action is where individuals actually modify their behaviour,
experiences, or environment in order to overcome their problems or to meet
their goals.
Stage 5: Maintenance, is where people work to prevent relapse and
consolidate the gains attained in the action stage.
processes and so, requires different treatments or intervention strategies
for the overall change process to be successful, matching interventions to
the stage of readiness of the individual.
Stage 1: Pre-contemplation At this stage there is no intention to engage in
any change behaviour indeed the individual may be in denial or oblivious to
the fact that anything is wrong or needs changing.
Stage 2. Contemplation At this stage there is an awareness that a problem
exists and there is serious consideration of actions to address the problem.
Stage 3: Preparation Once someone reaches this level of motivation there
is both intention to change and some behaviour modification, usually minor,
often meeting with limited success.
Stage 4: Action is where individuals actually modify their behaviour,
experiences, or environment in order to overcome their problems or to meet
their goals.
Stage 5: Maintenance, is where people work to prevent relapse and
consolidate the gains attained in the action stage.
Motivational Factors
Sometimes change is facilitated by providing appropriate rewards, incentives, and/or dis-incentives. In learning or
behaviourist approaches, these rewards and incentives are typically incorporated into structured reinforcement
schedules, termed behaviour modification. The amount of energy and external control to effect and sustain change
through incentive and disincentive is often unrealistic and so can fail to sustain any modification. Low success rates are
significantly related to a lack of exploration of other internal or external factors related to change impediment.
Internally guided motivation leads to success.
Attribution of Success to Internal Factors
How we attribute our personal successes and failures has been shown to be related to not only our behaviour, but our
self-esteem, our perceptions of personal control, our self-efficacy for different tasks and/or performance situations, and
our ongoing involvement in different activities.
A person's beliefs about personal success and failure in a given situation, will determine how that person feels about
the task, as well as the amount of effort he or she is likely to invest in the task the next time around. When failure is
attributed to low personal ability and a difficult task, individuals are more likely to give up sooner, select easier
alternatives. In such cases information, coaching & skills are required during the preparatory stage in order to support
the change more effectively. On-going support and emotional processing during the change process can be provided
through counselling and psycho-social therapy modalities.
Self-efficacy expectations have to do with a person's beliefs in his or her abilities to successfully execute the actions
necessary to meet specific situational demands. Such expectations have been found to be consistently related to
behaviour across a wide range of situations and population sub-groups. Closely related to self-efficacy is self-esteem,
confidence and resiliency.
Barring addictions (ingestive substance addictions, which can severely impede rational thinking) and compulsive
process addictions (such as OCD) which are particularly resistant to change without special medical interventions, most
goals for behaviour change are challenged by internal defenses, wounds, masks and possibly sub-personalities
developed over a long period of time.
Further inquiry into these defenses will determine the origin of the defense, the nature of the blockage, and the core
issues and persistent motivations underlying the target behaviour such as past shame, fear, anger and blame.
Emotional healing is required when attempts at behavioural change fail.
The change is likely impeded by defenses created in response to
emotional wounds or trauma.
Attribution of Success to External Factors:
On the other hand, when failure is attributed to external factors, such as community barriers, lack of availability,
individuals are likely to have higher motivations to continue and to try again for success.
The social reality of an individual's family and social group can and does influence an individual's behaviour or at the very
least how they feel about their ability to make change. All groups are characterized by certain group norms, beliefs and
ways of behaving, and these can strongly affect the behaviour of the group members, through expectations, peer
pressure, moral suasion and even professional reward or denial.
Expectations of significant or respected others can have a very strong influence on many people's behaviour, especially if
they tend towards people pleasing. This phenomenon has been most consistently demonstrated in the early research
on self-fulfilling prophecies, which showed that teachers' expectations of their students were consistently related to the
students' subsequent performance, even when these expectations were based on falsified information.
Thus, support and encouragement, or conversely, low expectations from significant or respected others, can affect and
help to bring about, (or hinder), changes in individual behaviour. Each contributes to the motivation of an individual to
make change in their life experience but none compares with internally-driven motivation towards improvement and
greater fulfilment.. It is this core of self empowerment that I try to help you access in order to reach your counselling
objectives.
Sometimes change is facilitated by providing appropriate rewards, incentives, and/or dis-incentives. In learning or
behaviourist approaches, these rewards and incentives are typically incorporated into structured reinforcement
schedules, termed behaviour modification. The amount of energy and external control to effect and sustain change
through incentive and disincentive is often unrealistic and so can fail to sustain any modification. Low success rates are
significantly related to a lack of exploration of other internal or external factors related to change impediment.
Internally guided motivation leads to success.
Attribution of Success to Internal Factors
How we attribute our personal successes and failures has been shown to be related to not only our behaviour, but our
self-esteem, our perceptions of personal control, our self-efficacy for different tasks and/or performance situations, and
our ongoing involvement in different activities.
A person's beliefs about personal success and failure in a given situation, will determine how that person feels about
the task, as well as the amount of effort he or she is likely to invest in the task the next time around. When failure is
attributed to low personal ability and a difficult task, individuals are more likely to give up sooner, select easier
alternatives. In such cases information, coaching & skills are required during the preparatory stage in order to support
the change more effectively. On-going support and emotional processing during the change process can be provided
through counselling and psycho-social therapy modalities.
Self-efficacy expectations have to do with a person's beliefs in his or her abilities to successfully execute the actions
necessary to meet specific situational demands. Such expectations have been found to be consistently related to
behaviour across a wide range of situations and population sub-groups. Closely related to self-efficacy is self-esteem,
confidence and resiliency.
Barring addictions (ingestive substance addictions, which can severely impede rational thinking) and compulsive
process addictions (such as OCD) which are particularly resistant to change without special medical interventions, most
goals for behaviour change are challenged by internal defenses, wounds, masks and possibly sub-personalities
developed over a long period of time.
Further inquiry into these defenses will determine the origin of the defense, the nature of the blockage, and the core
issues and persistent motivations underlying the target behaviour such as past shame, fear, anger and blame.
Emotional healing is required when attempts at behavioural change fail.
The change is likely impeded by defenses created in response to
emotional wounds or trauma.
Attribution of Success to External Factors:
On the other hand, when failure is attributed to external factors, such as community barriers, lack of availability,
individuals are likely to have higher motivations to continue and to try again for success.
The social reality of an individual's family and social group can and does influence an individual's behaviour or at the very
least how they feel about their ability to make change. All groups are characterized by certain group norms, beliefs and
ways of behaving, and these can strongly affect the behaviour of the group members, through expectations, peer
pressure, moral suasion and even professional reward or denial.
Expectations of significant or respected others can have a very strong influence on many people's behaviour, especially if
they tend towards people pleasing. This phenomenon has been most consistently demonstrated in the early research
on self-fulfilling prophecies, which showed that teachers' expectations of their students were consistently related to the
students' subsequent performance, even when these expectations were based on falsified information.
Thus, support and encouragement, or conversely, low expectations from significant or respected others, can affect and
help to bring about, (or hinder), changes in individual behaviour. Each contributes to the motivation of an individual to
make change in their life experience but none compares with internally-driven motivation towards improvement and
greater fulfilment.. It is this core of self empowerment that I try to help you access in order to reach your counselling
objectives.
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Abraham Maslow's hierarchy
of needs -- Motivational factors.
of needs -- Motivational factors.
Behavioural change occurs in stages or steps. Movement through these stages is neither unitary or linear, but rather, cyclical,
involving a pattern of adoption, maintenance, relapse, and re-adoption over time. While we are all able to make change, it is
usually energy intensive, requires support in areas of skills, values, beliefs and personal change encouragement.
involving a pattern of adoption, maintenance, relapse, and re-adoption over time. While we are all able to make change, it is
usually energy intensive, requires support in areas of skills, values, beliefs and personal change encouragement.
Attention, Interest and the Desire to change, precedes Preparation and Action
It can't be stressed enough that any intervention, therapy or counselling can not be effective without the attention, active interest
and intention to make change in one's life. As such, counselling or therapy can only be effective at the preparation and action
stages. While some clients may be cycling between contemplation and preparation and back again, without active
preparation and action steps taken by the client, actual change is impossible.
In successful behavioural change, while relapses to earlier stages inevitably occur, individuals never remain within the earlier
stage to which they have regressed, but rather, spiral upwards, until eventually they reach a state where most of their time is
spent in the maintenance stage.
It can't be stressed enough that any intervention, therapy or counselling can not be effective without the attention, active interest
and intention to make change in one's life. As such, counselling or therapy can only be effective at the preparation and action
stages. While some clients may be cycling between contemplation and preparation and back again, without active
preparation and action steps taken by the client, actual change is impossible.
In successful behavioural change, while relapses to earlier stages inevitably occur, individuals never remain within the earlier
stage to which they have regressed, but rather, spiral upwards, until eventually they reach a state where most of their time is
spent in the maintenance stage.
"Where science, psychology and spirituality meet in a way
that makes a difference to your reality."
that makes a difference to your reality."
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| By changing ourselves we change our circumstances. |
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