Tools for Changing Behavior: Part 1 of 3

Changing our behavior around food, our body, and movement is no easy task. For many people, these changes require circumstances that don’t give us another option: we either make the change or something terrible is guaranteed to happen. People often say, “The decision [to change] was made for me.”

Without being forced to change, some would argue that the hardest part about changing our behavior is making the decision to do so and committing to that decision. With the help of 3 different tools from 3 different therapy modalities, this 3-post blog series will explore:

1. the arch of behavior change and where decision-making falls within it through the 5 Stages of Behavior Changed from Motivational Interviewing

2. finding clarity about whether or not to change through the Decision Matrix from Cognitive Behavior Therapy

3. a strategy to assess your commitment to change through Parts Mapping from Internal Family Systems Therapy

This first blog post is dedicated to the arch of behavior change. Stay tuned for the posts addressing clarity about the decision and assessing your commitment!

5 Stages of Change from Motivational Interviewing

When people consider “behavior change” the image that comes to mind is something visible, tangible, or measurable. For example, if someone is trying to brush their teeth in the morning appose to just at night, behavior change success means they will physically brush their teeth in the morning. Any other tasks or labor leading-up to this outward expression of change doesn’t usually count as changing.

The 5 Stages of Change allows for all the steps of changing our behavior to be honored, even if those steps are not obvious or visible. Take the example before of brushing one’s teeth. Before a person can brush their teeth in the morning, they have to ensure access to their toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as adequate time. This may require a trip to the store, changing their morning routine, or even changing their evening schedule to make sure they get up earlier

This preparatory labor is important to do and unless we count it as part of behavior change, we can get tired, feel discouraged, and give up before we have the desired result. The 5 Stages of Change framework helps us celebrate our labor toward the outward expression of change we hope to experience.

Without further ado, below are the 5 Stages of Change with an example of what that may sound like given the morning tooth-brushing behavior.

1. Pre-Contemplative: the stage in which someone is not aware that a change is warranted. “I don’t think that increasing my tooth-brushing would make any kind of difference for me. Life is good enough, nothing needs to change.”

2. Contemplative: there’s a suspicion that change might be beneficial but we’re in the process of making the decision to change. “I’m frustrated my breath and stains on my teeth. I’ve heard brushing my teeth in the morning might help but I’m not convinced it’s worth the inconvenience it would take to change.”

3. Planning: a plan is created to support the execution of behavior change. “Okay, I know I need to brush my teeth in the morning but I eat breakfast at work. I’ll keep a toothbrush in a zip-lock in my desk so I can brush my teeth after breakfast at work.”

4. Action: the behavior change takes place. “I took an extra tooth brush and toothpaste to work and brushed my teeth at work after breakfast for a whole week!”

5. Evaluation: consider if the changed behavior had the desired impact. “After brushing my teeth after breakfast in the morning, I was less-distracted and able to interact with my colleagues with more presence. That said, I do feel self-conscious about brushing my teeth in bathroom where people can watch me at the sink.”

And the cycle begins again.

Below are some reflection questions and an exercise to help you apply this to a change you may be grappling with. Next post will explore a tool that can interfere with many people’s path toward change: the decision matrix from Cognitive Behavior Therapy to help us move through the contemplative stage of change.

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Reflection Questions

Consider a change in behavior you’ve done before that you’re proud of:

1. What did the 5 stages of change look like for that behavior change?

2. Did you go through the cycle multiple times until you found something that felt sustainable?

3. Was there a stage that was harder to move through than others?

4. What helped you get through that stage?

Let’s put it to practice

1. What habits have you wanted to develop or break? Maybe you want to stay more hydrated or spend less time on your phone.

2. How far along the 5 Stages of Change have you gotten with this behavior change before? Maybe this is the first time thinking about it, have made the plan but haven’t done the action, or perhaps you moved through all 5 stages and feel a way about it.

3. As you consider these 5 stages, is there one stage where you lost more traction? What happens when you’re in this stage of change? It’s possible this depends on the nature of the behavior as well.

4. Consider the reflection question above: what resource or process has helped you get through this stage in the past? Maybe it was talking to a friend, doing more research, or simply having more patience with yourself.

As you practice using this tool, try to remain curious about your process and compassionate with what you discover. If you’d like more support on changing behavior, I’d love to hear from you!