Addiction: Prochaska's Six-Stage Model
Prochaska’s Six-Stage Model is a model of addiction treatment that sees people
passing through six transitional stages in a cyclical process when attempting to
change a problematic behaviour such as smoking or gambling. Some stages may be
reached in order but there may be some backtracking and even missing out of
stages.
The model is based on two insights about behavioural change:
1) People differ in how ready they are to change
2) The usefulness of a treatment intervention depends on the stage the person has
reached
The six stages are: Pre-contemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action,
Maintenance, Termination.
The first three stages represent variations in the individual’s intentions to change.
1) Pre-contemplation= where an individual is not thinking about behaviour change
as they may be in denial and feeling demotivated by their failure in previous
attempts. The useful intervention here would focus on the individual considering
reasons for changing (need).
2) Contemplation= where an individual is now considering changing their behaviour
i.e. considering costs and benefits. Intervention here which will be useful could be a
drug treatment so that they can be helped in order for them to understand the pros of
overcoming the addiction do outweigh the cons.
3) Preparation= where they do feel that the benefits do outweigh the costs and so
are ready to think about how to change. The intervention here would be creating a
plan, for instance making an appointment with a doctor, helplines etc...
4) Action= where the addict changes their behaviour, and puts their plans into
motion. Relapse may occur here, but the individual can pick themselves up. A useful
intervention could be where the individual develops coping strategies that would help
them quit the addiction and maintain the change that they're making. This could be
through practical help e.g. praise, rewards.
5) Maintenance= where the individual would have maintained their behaviour
change i.e. 6 months not smoking/gambling and is increasingly confident that a
permanent change can happen. This stage is lengthy as they need to be focused on
the long-term goal which is to never smoke or gamble. Here intervention would be
the individual applying the coping strategies they have learnt and using the sources
of support that is available.
Prochaska’s Six-Stage Model is a model of addiction treatment that sees people
passing through six transitional stages in a cyclical process when attempting to
change a problematic behaviour such as smoking or gambling. Some stages may be
reached in order but there may be some backtracking and even missing out of
stages.
The model is based on two insights about behavioural change:
1) People differ in how ready they are to change
2) The usefulness of a treatment intervention depends on the stage the person has
reached
The six stages are: Pre-contemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action,
Maintenance, Termination.
The first three stages represent variations in the individual’s intentions to change.
1) Pre-contemplation= where an individual is not thinking about behaviour change
as they may be in denial and feeling demotivated by their failure in previous
attempts. The useful intervention here would focus on the individual considering
reasons for changing (need).
2) Contemplation= where an individual is now considering changing their behaviour
i.e. considering costs and benefits. Intervention here which will be useful could be a
drug treatment so that they can be helped in order for them to understand the pros of
overcoming the addiction do outweigh the cons.
3) Preparation= where they do feel that the benefits do outweigh the costs and so
are ready to think about how to change. The intervention here would be creating a
plan, for instance making an appointment with a doctor, helplines etc...
4) Action= where the addict changes their behaviour, and puts their plans into
motion. Relapse may occur here, but the individual can pick themselves up. A useful
intervention could be where the individual develops coping strategies that would help
them quit the addiction and maintain the change that they're making. This could be
through practical help e.g. praise, rewards.
5) Maintenance= where the individual would have maintained their behaviour
change i.e. 6 months not smoking/gambling and is increasingly confident that a
permanent change can happen. This stage is lengthy as they need to be focused on
the long-term goal which is to never smoke or gamble. Here intervention would be
the individual applying the coping strategies they have learnt and using the sources
of support that is available.
