Prochaska’s six-stage model Flashcards
(17 cards)
What are the stages of Prochaskas model
- Pre contemplation
- Contemplation
- Preparation
- Action
- Maintenance
- Termination
What is Pre contemplation?
person is not thinking about changing their addiction
- due to denial, theyve never considered changing becuase they dint bekieve they have a problem
- due to demotivation, may have tried many times to quit but failed and theyre now demoralised
How can intervention can help someone in the Pre contemplation stage
inteevention should focus on helping the person consider the need for change
What is contemplation
person os thinking about changing in the next 6 months - they are ambivalent
- became increasingly aware of the need for change and the benefits and costs
What intervention can help someone in the contemplation stage
ppl can remain in contemplation for a long time so intervention helps them realise how the advantages of quitting outweigh the disadvantages
What is preparation?
combines intention to change with actual change
- believes benefits are greater than costs and decide to change within the next month
May report small behavioural changes (fewer cigs etc)
How can intervention help someone in the Preparation stage
Support in making a plan and giving them options such as seeing a councellor naming an appointment with their GP
What is action
individuals modify their behaviour to overcome their problems. Requires considerable commitment on the part of the individual
- ppl in this stage have successfully altered their behaviour for 6 months
How can intervention help someone in the action stage
Intervention should focus on developing coping skills the client will need to quit and maintain their change if behaviour
What is maintenance
The individual is classified as being in this stage when they have stayed free of the previously addictive behaviour for a period of six months or more.
The focus is on relapse prevention – avoiding situations where cues might trigger reversion to addictive behaviours. This is accompanied by a growing confidence that changes can be continued
in the longer term. The change in behaviour is becoming a way of life.
How may intervention help someone in the maintenance stage
helps the client to apply the coping skills they have learned and to use the sources of
support available to them.
They may use ‘stimulus control’, removing any cues to engage in the
problem behaviour, and ‘helping relationships’, seeking and using social support to help them ‘stay clean.
What is the termination stage
At this stage, newly acquired behaviours such as abstinence become automatic. The person no longer returns to addictive behaviours to cope with problems in their lives.
People in this stage often keep building on their initial change, adding new goals and achieving
even more success.
This stage may not be possible or realistic for some people to achieve. It may be that the most
appropriate goal for many is to prolong maintenance for as long as they can, accepting that
relapse is inevitable at some point.
What is a strength of Prochaska’s six-stage model
Acknowledges the impact of relapse
What are limitations of Prochaska’s six-stage model
- Social norms and cultural differences
- Descriptive rather than predictive
Evaluate that it acknowledges the impact of relapse as a strength of Prochaska’s six-stage model
P: A strength of the model is that it acknowledges the impact of relapse.
E: According to DiClemente et.al. ‘relapse is the rule rather than the exception’. The six-stage model does not view relapse as failure but as an inevitable part of the ‘untidy’, non-linear, dynamic process of behaviour change.
However, as it views relapse as more than just a slip, the model also takes it seriously and does not underestimate
its potential to blow change entirely off course. Lots of changes to behaviour require several attempts to get right,
to make last, or to reach the maintenance or termination stages.
E: This is a strength as it provides an accurate explanation of behaviour change.
Evaluate social norms and cultural differences as a limitation of Prochaska’s six-stage model
P: A limitation of the model is that it fails to acknowledge the role of social norms and cultural differences.
E: Daoud et al (2015) found that in Arab cultures social smoking, where cigarettes are distributed during weddings and funerals, makes it more difficult to quit.
In a study of Arab male smokers, they found that 62% were still in the pre-contemplation stage and only 14% at the preparation stage. This was compared to studies done in the US, UK and Europe which have found that 40% of smokers are in the pre-contemplation stage and 20% in the preparation stage.
E: These findings suggest that a lower readiness to quit smoking in some cultures may be a product of social norms and
pressures that limit the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
Evaluate that its too arbitrary as a limitation of Prochaska’s six-stage model
P: A limitation of the model is that the difference between stages is probably too arbitrary.
E: For example, Sutton (2001) points out that if an individual plans to stop smoking in 30 days’ time they are in the
preparation stage but if the plan to give up in 31 days’ time they are in the contemplation stage. Bandura claims that the first two stages are not even qualitatively different because the only difference between
them is how much (a quantitative measure) the individual wants to change.
Kraft et.al argue that the six stages can be reduced to just two useful ones: Precontemplation plus all the others grouped together.
E: This is a limitation as the model may be unnecessarily complex
