Motivation For ChangeJoyce D. Nash, Ph.D.

www.drjoycenash.comEmail: drjnash@outlook.com

What We Will Cover Today

• Stages of Change

• Targets for Change

• Just what is “motivation?”

• Psychological Flexibility

• Suggestions to help you change

Targets for Change

Any problem behavior

ExamplesSmokingAlcohol and drug abuseEating and exercise behaviors

Motivation

• Consists of different stage of being able to commit to changing

• Involves evaluating your personally chosen and deep values and committing to act on these values

• Developing psychological flexibility

Psychological Flexibility

• Staying in touch with the present moment• Learning to detach from unhelpful thoughts• Accepting the painful or unpleasant circumstances that life brings• Learning to be mindful• Defining what really matters to you in the big picture• Taking action on these values

Stages of Change

1. Precontemplation2. Contemplation3. Preparation4. Action5. Maintenance6. Relapse

Stage 1: Precontemplation

• Not recognizing there is a problem• Purposefully not thinking about the problem• Giving excuses or rationalizations for the problem that allow it to

continue• Being in denial of the problem• Lacking in realistic acceptance

Examples of Precontemplation Stage

• College professor who helped people quit smoking but was a smoker himself

• Male who says he is abstinent from alcohol but allows himself a glass of wine “until I can feel it”

• Philosophy of “fat acceptance”

Helping Others Move Beyond Contemplation

• Provide empathy

• Avoid confrontation

• Invoke the person’s concerns for themselves

• Nurture hope

Stage 2: Contemplation

• Focusing on reasons to change

• Recognizing the need to change

• Contemplating how to change

• Wishing for change

How to Move Beyond Contemplation

• Evaluate your ambivalence and procrastination• What are the obsticales to change?• How can you overcome them?• Bolster arguments for change

• Ask yourself questions• How does the problem behavior “work” for you?• What role does the behavior play in you life?• What are the advantages of changing?• What do you think needs to happen in order to change?

Stage 3: Preparation

• Taking steps to change• Buying a self-help book• Talking to others about ways to change

• Making some small changes but without a thought-out plan

• Thinking “I will…” or “I’m going to…”

• Investigating options for changing

Stage 4: Action

• Achieving a mindset that supports change• Accepting what is• Evaluating personal values• Making a personal (and possibly public) commitment to act on values

• Doing it

• Taking it one day at a time

Stage 5: Maintenance

• Staying with it

• “Change is now part of my life”

• Revised self-definition; “throwing the switch in my brain”

Stage 6: Relapse

• A normal part of the change process

• How does relapse happen?• Social situations• Negative emotions

• Getting back on track

• Coping skills• High risk situations

Suggestions

• Evaluate and focus on the advantages of changing• Avoid self-criticism and labeling• Maintain hope• Define and focus on your innermost values• Create a change plan that is:• Specific• Achievable• Relevant