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Healthy Behavior Change Self-Help Guide
Healthy Living

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Stages of Change Model: Introduction

This Web site is designed for individuals who may be interested in making changes in their health behaviors. Before you begin to make changes in your health behaviors, you may want to learn more about a useful theory called the Stages of Change (SOC) Model that explains the stages we go through when we make changes. The SOC Model was originally developed in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente at the University of Rhode Island when they were studying how smokers were able to give up their habits. The SOC Model has been applied to a broad range of behaviors including weight loss, injury prevention and overcoming alcohol and drug problems, among others.

The basic premise of the SOC Model is that behavior change does not happen in one step. Rather, people tend to progress through different stages on their way to successful change. Also, each of us progresses through the stages at our own rate. For example, expecting behavior change by simply telling someone who is trying to lose weight and is in the precontemplation stage that he or she must go to a certain number of weight management program meetings in a certain time period will not be effective because they are not ready to change. Each person must decide for himself or herself when a stage is completed and when it is time to move on to the next stage. Moreover, this decision must come from inside each individual (internal motivation). In other words, stable, long term change cannot be imposed by an external force or individual.

The Stages of Change

Stage One: Precontemplation
Not yet acknowledging that there is a problem behavior that needs to be changed		 Stage Two: Contemplation
Acknowledging that there is a problem but not yet ready or sure of wanting to make a change		 Stage Three: Preparation
Getting ready to change in the next 3 months		 Stage Four:
Action
Changing behavior, but for less than 6 months		 Stage Five:
Maintenance
Maintaining the behavior change for more than 6 months 		Relapse: Returning to older behaviors and abandoning the new changes

Lifestyle Changing Tool

Once you are familiar with the Stages of Change, select a topic from our Lifestyle Changing Tool.

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This page last updated on January 28, 2010.
Content last reviewed on January 28, 2010.