Changing for Good by Prochaska, James O., etc. (1998) Paperback

by James O. Prochaska

How many times have you thought about starting a diet or quitting smoking without doing anything about it? Or lapsed back into bad habits after hitting a rough spot on the road to recovery?To uncover the secret to successful personal change, three acclaimed psychologists studied more than 1,000 people who were able to positively and permanently alter their lives without psychotherapy. They discovered that change does not depend on luck or willpower. It is a process that can be successfully managed by anyone who understands how it works. Once you determine which stage of change you’re in, you a climate where positive change can occurmaintain motivationturn setbacks into progressmake your new benefifificial habits a permanent part of your lifeThis groundbreaking book offers simple self-assessments, informative case histories, and concrete examples to help clarify each stage and process. Whether your goal is to start saving money, to stop drinking, or to end other self-defeating or addictive behaviors, this revolutionary program will help you implement positive personal change . . . for life.The National Cancer Institute Found this program more than twice as effective as standard programs in helping smokers quit for 18 months.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Counselling, Business, Health

Unknown Binding

First published June 1, 1994

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I'm thinking about changing a bad habit or a few, not just ones mentioned here. The book doesn't look much, but surprised me.)

This book is about overcoming bad habits-
like smoking, alcoholism, overeating, drug addiction, gambling issues, overworking, sexual irresponsibility, anxieties
- in 6 clear steps, though the authors clearly say that not all habit can be done without a professional therapist of some sort. That said, this is a pretty clear (it was meant to be quite simple), and amazingly strecthable, form of changing that does tell you that the road is not always all A to B, but relapses may happen a few times before success.

To start on this, one must know what one's stage currently is (there is a test for that in the book). If you're going to conquer more than one at the same time, the stage may vary with *each* habit. The first three stages are most likely, in my opinion.
The stages are:
1. Precontemplation (resisting, but with some unease) - denial and excuse-making
2. Contemplation (admitting and pondering) - needing facts but not rushing from others
3. Preparation (for action and unexpected challenges) - information-search, planning for challenges and how to reward good steps
- there's an action-readiness test here before next step, in the book-
4. Action (making change after thorough preparation) - replacing with healthy substitutes, control of environment, using rewards
5. Maintenance (most common stop-point) - vulnerable, avoiding overconfidence in abilities, knowing how to do in temptation situations
5.2 Knowing what to do with relapsing
6. Termination (not available to everyone; sometimes age can help) - knowing the signs of this stage if you're the lucky one.
Each one has its particular techniques to use on that stage, and some from previous stages may still apply on next ones.

The authors explain how they came to this form of stages (not easy, not quickly-arrived-to, but does give googd results). Some info shows the date when the book first arrived, so Internet is not heavily given, but very few parts show it anyway. :) There is specific guidance for three bad habits (smoking, alcoholism and anxiety stuff). The info for seeking therapy-level help is pretty clear, though US-centric, and I don't have the knowledge how good it really is, but I feel the authors tried their best.

But in the end, I feel that this is perhaps one of the best 'change bad habits' book I've read. Plain but clear, with stretch-room and appliable for so many things to change. So if you get this, it can give you much good information and support to start from. It has certainly inspired me to thinking of trying soon. :)

[María Greene F]

Me lo recomendó una amiga sicóloga diciendo que era prácticamente la piedra filosofal con la que tratan a los pacientes con malos hábitos y pensé que podría servirme para la no despreciable cantidad que cargo yo, pero... luego lo encontré igual a casi todos los libros del tipo que he leído últimamente, y con eso me refiero a quizá ya los últimos diez o cinco años. O sea, muy cliché y nada novedoso.

Y es que pasa algo con los libros de sicología y/o autoayuda a lo largo del tiempo. Cuando uno los toma de chica, entran directamente a un espacio vacío, entonces se absorben (o debaten) a la velocidad del rayo, así que, sin importar si son buenos o malos, se sienten maravillosos. Pero después de haber pasado por varios... todo es un poco de lo mismo. Son pocas las cosas que una pueda leer al respecto que sean realmente reveladoras. No hay realmente tal piedra filosofal.

O al menos así lo he sentido yo. Una pérdida de tiempo, para mi propio camino personal.

Sin embargo, lo dejo etiquetado como "abandonado hasta nuevo aviso" porque me lo recomendaron con tanta cercanía y vehemencia que... me da pena descartarlo así a la buena de Dios.

Aunque quizá lo haga secretamente. Esta persona no tiene Goodreads así que nunca se va a dar cuenta, muajaja.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, James Prochaska provides a model of behavioral change that attempts to reconcile hundreds of other models; hence the name of Transtheoretical Model of Behavioral Change. It has been labeled as a "revolution in the science of behavior change" but I find the work important because it offers a simple framework in which much self-change can occur. The model is composed of six different stages and Prochaska points out that success in adapting a healthier behavior relies on the individual understanding where they are in the process and not rushing.

Stage 1 is Pre-contemplation when an individual can't see or accept the problem or behavior and they resist change.
Stage 2 is Contemplation where a person acknowledges that change needs to occur and they think about solving it but there is no commitment. Many get stuck here in the "I will someday" mindset.
Stage 3 is Preparation with planning to take action and this includes some level of commitment.
Stage 4 is Action where steps are taken to modify the behavior.
Stage 5 is Maintenance which is composed of a struggle to permanently adopt behavior. There will be lapses.
Stage 6 is Termination where the behavior (or lack of it) is now a habit.

The book details methods for working through and provides indicators of success for each stage. It includes a number of examples of how people used the model to successfully bring about positive change.

The processes outlined lend themselves to implementation within the professional coaching relationship and the author's attitude towards change aligns with my own personal views. I've found the insights provided by this model to be quite useful in my coaching business.

[Carrie Mullins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-researched yet common sense guide to changing bad habits. The authors explain six stages of change they recognized after studying thousands of people who have made positive changes on their own. These stages do indeed feel universal, and somehow remind me of Joseph Campbell distilling the universal phases of the Hero’s Journey after studying thousands of human stories. Anyone who wants to make a positive change would benefit from reading this. I’ll definitely be reading it twice.

[Timofey Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Великолепная книга с чётким планом избавления от негативных пристрастий: вспышек гнева, переедания, прокрастинации, алкогольной и табачной зависимости.

[Sydney Oswald · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s about time I finish this book

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some very fascinating and helpful insights into the processes of human change. The framework of dividing change into stages makes so much sense to me and the fact that different techniques for change work differently/better or worse during different stages was also a very helpful insight.

This book was very helpful for me to improve my understanding of how to more effectively change and move myself through the stages as I work on becoming healthier and other personal goals.

A very practical and worthwhile read.

Note after 2021 re-read: this book is really insightful and it was very helpful to refresh my memory on the stages and the processes of change. This time around I am going to type up some notes to remind myself of the chief characteristics of each stage and how to move between them so I can refer back to them in my personal change efforts. I will definitely re-read this book from time to time. The author's insights on the realities of human nature and human change are significant and valuable.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book changed my life, and I witnessed it change many others'. I worked at a therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens that used this book as an outline for their clinical model and it worked beautifully. I saw kids change in the 15 months that they were there. If you are a smoker, or trying to diet, or dealing with bipolar, depression, anxiety, or substance abuse - even family or attachment issues - this book can help you. Read it with an open mind - and take this from someone who is not accustomed to (or accepting of) self-help books.

[Caroline Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant. Do you ever wonder why someone just WON'T change? Could be they are not even contemplating change, they are in the pre-contemplative stage. Did you know there are different interventions that you should try with a person depending on the stage of change they are in? This book was so enlightening to me!

[LaShara Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been shorter

[Joshua Caraballo, PsyD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book and all its contents. :-)

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book for a class. The model it proposes is fine as a descriptive matter, but the substance is disturbingly shallow and not trauma-informed. I would never recommend this book to anyone.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do people change? For generations, folk wisdom told us that changing an undesirable behvaior was a simple matter of "willpower."

But beginning in the 1980s, psychologists James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente began research which would challenge the "simple willpower" model of change:

"Many people we have interviewed first tell us, 'I just woke up one morning and quit [smoking].' [But w]hen we ask more detailed questions, they begin to remember....[1] They remember the weeks prior to that fateful morning, when perhaps they switched brands and became increasingly disgusted with smoking. [2] They remember earlier attempts to quit smoking. [3] They remember when they avoided people and the places that were filled with smoke during the two weeks after quitting. [4] They remember enlisting the aid of several friends at work by announcing their attempt to quit smoking" (page 210).

In short, Prochaska and colleagues realized that change is not a simple event, but a process, including the above techniques of [1] Preparation [2] Relapse and Renewed Resolution [3] Avoiding Tempting Environments and [4] Making one's Change-Commitment Public and tapping Helping Relationships to increase one's chance at success.

In the end, Prochaska and colleagues finally modeled change as a Five-Stage Process. They devote a chapter to each such stage in this book:

Chapter 4: Precontemplation: where a person isn't even considering changing a behavior, is in denial about it.

Chapter 5: Contemplation: where a person begins to be receptive to information about their problematic behavior, begins thinking about changing it...maybe in the next six months.

Chapter 6: Preparation: where a person makes the commitment to change, sets a date, and creates an "action plan" for changing.

Chapter 7: Action: where the person puts their Action Plan into gear, usually spending their first six months meeting a host of basic temptations, challenges, and distresses of actually changing their problematic behavior.

Chapter 8: Maintenance: where the plan is in place. The person tries to maintain their new/changed way of life. While temptations to stray are fewer at this point, the person has to be ready for sudden surprises which might knock them off the beam.

Of course, even the best-made plans can go awry. ("Everyone has a plan," boxers often say, "until you get punched in the face.") In fact, most people fall off the beam the first time they try to change some behavior (smoking, drinking, overeating, etc.). For this reason, Prochaska and colleagues added the stage of "Relapse/Recycling" to their model (Chapter 9). Happily, they've found that, even when people lapse in their change-program, many of them "recycle": they (1) try to learn from their lapse and then (2) return to their change-commitment, this time a bit wiser than before.

In this book, Prochaska et al describe each of the change-stages in detail, pointing out that certain coping-techniques are more appropriate to different stages of change. For example, while book-learning ("consciousness raising") is very helpful in the Contemplation stage, Action and Maintenance require more active coping techniques--such as learning Relaxation, or including an Exercise regimen, or learning to "talk back" to tempting thoughts (nicely summarized on page 54).

Even more fascinating, Prochaska et al point out (page 26) that different styles of psychotherapy/counseling might be more helpful to people at different stages of change. Contemplators, for instance, can profit greatly from traditional analysis (Freudian/Jungian/Gestalt/Transactional/etc). On the other hand, people at the Action/Maintenance stages might profit better from more behavior-and-relationship based therapies (Behaviorism/Cognitive/Humanistic/Existential Counseling).

But most important, this book aims to be a very detailed guide for readers who not only want to learn the psychology of change, but also want to apply this model to their own lives. For this reason, Prochaska et al (1) Walk the reader through the five stages; then (2) explain the coping techniques most helpful to each stage, (3) give real-life examples of people at each stage and the actions they took at each stage. Finally, (4) Prochaska et al apply the Stages of Change model to specific behaviors at Chapter 10: smoking, drinking and coping with psychological (di)stress.

Of course, no book can be a panacea--change is difficult no matter how much psychology one has read. (The authors are well-aware of this, and point it out repeatedly.) But this book offers a reader an eyes-wide-open vision of how real people really change, and what kinds of preparation and specific coping skills can best ensure success in changing one's life.

[Robert Bogue]

Change books generally fall into two broad categories. The first category of books is targeted at the super-large organization and describes structures for change that involve hundreds or thousands of people. The second category of change books are focused on how to accomplish the individual changes necessary. The first category generally acknowledges that all change is individual change. That any organization doesn’t change unless its people change. That source of awareness seems to come back to Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward. Based on the work of James Prochaska, John Norcross, and Carlo DiClemente, the book shares how the most stubborn addictions can be broken by an awareness of where people are along a continuum of progress, from being completely resistant to change to the termination of bad behaviors.

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[Andrea M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depending on the topic, you might find yourself in a different phase of change. This book breaks down the process of change from denial of a problem to the formation of a whole new identity. Those who decide to change something about their life do so for different reasons but they all follow the same pattern. That pattern is the genius of this book. How you become aware of a problem or choose to deny it determines your next step. Breaking down the pros and cons of changing or remaining on the same trajectory was, for me, a really interesting exercise. I had never identified the subconscious reasons for my behavior. Then there’s the action. If it’s premature, we realize that we had not fully understood the cost of change and we return to contemplating the problem. If we have thought through our path, we move forward. In either case there is definite progress. This book addresses lots of important issues with respect to action: confidence, self-validation, victim mentality, and the pitfalls that lead to relapse. Which are you? The one who can’t see the solution or the one who can’t see the problem?

[Ajay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book improve your lifestyle and to end a bad habit such as drinking, overeating, smoking, other drug habits, anger issues, continuous thoughts of distress, etc. The technique for changing bad habits is known as "the stages of change approach", and has been proven to be more successful than other methods, that are more action based. There were several examples based on real life experiences throughout the book.

The stages of change are 1. Precontemplation, 2. Contemplation, 3. Preparation, 4. Action, 5. Maintenance, and 6. Recycling. The book does a great job of explaining each stage, places where individuals often get stuck, and how to get unstuck. One way to get unstuck is to continually reevaluate by logging thoughts, judging the truth of those thoughts, and countering negative thoughts. Replacing bad habits with good habits is also an effective strategy.

I highly recommend this book for anyone that is trying to rid themselves of a bad habit and are interested in Changing for Good.

[Paulo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book that provides a clear framework for self-change, based on solid scientific and empirical research and practice.

According to Prochaska et al, self-directed change must go through the following stages:

- Pre-contemplation
- Contemplation
- Preparation
- Action
- Maintenance
- Termination (in some cases)

Part of the reason why changing ourselves is so hard is because we tend to underestimate it, and skip non-negotiable parts of the change process. This framework, which includes a number of different tactics suited to each stage, creates awareness and clarity, and illuminates many of the typical pitfalls.

A corollary of reading this book is that I now understand A LOT better why so many of my own change efforts have failed and continue to fail. Perhaps I am now better equipped going forward to give them another shot.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting study of how people change. In my opinion, from a Christian and Reformed perspective, it could supplement well a study on sanctification or counseling to someone stuck in addictions or bad habits.

Reformed Christians understand that true heart change is a work of grace, and yet there is always a human component to change. In biblical terminology, we do "work out" our salvation (though we do that because God "works in" us). And so one, I think, can read a book like this seeing in it as a thorough discussion of the human effort side of the ledger in change.

A lot of common sense into human behavior.

[Martijn Euyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changing for Good biedt een transtheoretische benadering voor verandering. De schrijvers onderzochten duizenden personen die erin slaagden om te veranderen, variërend van het stoppen van alcoholmisbruik, drugsgebruik en het omgaan met mentale problemen. Daaruit leidden ze het zes fasen model voor verandering af. Enorm leerzaam en hoopvol boek dat niet alleen bruikbare inzichten biedt voor het ondersteunen van veranderingen van individuen, maar zeker ook voor organisaties!

[Kat Robey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overall and concrete look at the process of change-examples of smoking, drinking, and overeating as habits are used to address offer a framework to explore underlying reasons for the choices we make. Rather than thinking the book is only targeted to these three issues or habits—Case examples, studies, statistics, and exploration of psychological paradigms offer context such that the reader can apply strategies to ANY behaviors s/he would like to improve.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I read it primarily to understand what it was that I did when I went through significant changes in my own life, and with the idea towards being a support to others seeking to change.

The book helps one recognize what stage of change they are in and gives help to understand and move through the stages.

The stages are: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action. Maintenance, Termination.

[Nesya Maksimova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Несмотря на то, что методику я считаю блестящей, книгу особенно полезной назвать не могу. Возможно, она пригодится психологам, но как руководство к действию использовать (лично мне) было бы невозможно: очень сложно прорваться через самолюбование автора и составить роадмап изменений, по которому дальше надо будет идти.
Но, повторюсь, описанные в ней методы действительно очень эффективные, в некотором роде новаторские и думаю, очень многим они помогли бы наконец-то добиться желаемого.

[Coreena Witzig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was assigned to read this book for a class and found it much more interesting than expected. It goes through the stages of change and the processes of change that make it happen. It can be used to help yourself, a friend, or clients in a professional setting. This book is worth reading, especially if you work in a field where you are trying to help others make a change in their lives.

[Ana Duran · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was beneficial in understanding of how change works. It is worth reading if you want to understanding the behaviour and the processes of change.
However, there is plenty of opportunity to condense the material, it drags on more than necessary. Also, more appropriate language could have been implemented.

[Thomas Zegray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the structured, scientific stages associated with the book and the author's studies and research. I also liked the idea of using the stages for multiple problems that a person needs to change, me for one... great book for people who have a bad gut feeling about the medical field nowadays and feel the need to go it alone first.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

No doubt this was most likely an impactful book when it came out (1994), but it's extremely dated and I would also say fatphobic and dangerous for anyone recovering from an eating disorder. I think it could be a decent resource for someone specifically looking to quit smoking or drinking who has done zero research and has never been exposed to the self-help world before.

[Michael McCluskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm taking a Habit Change 12-week online class for credit this Fall semester at the community college where I work. I appreciate the science, but it's much like most other such works, glossing over specifics. Interesting and useful for the habit I plan on confronting for the class, soda-drinking.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't quite finish it, but I did find it useful. I'm continually sliding back and forth between action and planning (almost within a day). I would like to revisit this at a time when I want to get much more serious about making sustained change. I think this gives a great toolkit!

[Sarah Drew-Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent!!! Written in easy to understand, accessible language. As a behavioral health therapist who works in an inpatient setting with clients struggling with substance use disorder, I have already implemented many of the techniques and assessments with clients I work with.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good read, despite not the easiest. The way it was written was a bit boring.