Stages of Change
The stage construct is important
in part because it represents a temporal
dimension. Change implies
phenomena occurring over time, but
surprisingly, none of the leading theories
of therapy contained a core
construct representing time. Behavior
change was often construed as an
event, such as quitting smoking,
drinking, or overeating. The transtheoretical
model construes change
as a process involving progress
through a series of six stages.
Precontemplation is the stage in
which people are not intending to
take action in the foreseeable future,
usually measured as the next 6
months. People may be in this stage
because they are uninformed or underinformed
about the consequences
of their behavior. Or they may have
tried to change a number of times
and become demoralized about their
abilities to change. Both groups tend
to avoid reading, talking, or thinking
about their high risk behaviors. They
are often characterized in other theories
as resistant or unmotivated clients
or as not ready for therapy or
health promotion programs. The fact
is, traditional health promotion programs
were not ready for such indi