Why is change so difficult? Maybe we believe it has already cost us a lot to get this far so why risk everything. We are also creatures of habit. We form our habits, then our habits form us.
Change also makes us feel insecure. We feel that maybe we don’t have what it takes to succeed. But change is here to stay! We could argue that when we stop changing, we stop growing.
In 1982 James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente developed a useful model describing how people change. The model was based on self-help change, but research has shown it to underpin all types of change related to behaviours such as addictions, eating disorders and it could probably be applied to changing your job or moving house as well.
The Cycle of Change (Transtheoretical Theory of Change, is its clinical name), unifies a whole range of theories about how people change. It assists us in understanding where our clients may be in the cycle and how to engage and work with them depending on the stage they are in. In a self-help community it is important for clients to understand where they are.
The Cycle of Change is not like a carousel, where you get on, then go around, and get off when it stops. There are entry and exit points; change can take a number of attempts.
Some people can move rapidly through the cycle. Those recovering from drug addiction may take up to two years to maintain a drug free lifestyle.