My Behavior Change Project

The behavior change project for me was a very rewarding process because I really felt like I was able to help someone. I started off in the beginning trying to help my friend lose weight because he had always told me that he wanted too. Throughout the six weeks, he lost a total of 10 pounds. It wasn’t always easy throughout because it took a lot of planning and hard work to achieve what he wanted to. As time went on, his goals became easier for him. He worked 3 times a week (missed only one!) and made sacrifices in his diet. Although he did not meet his goal, he still did a very good job. I guided my client to develop goals and objectives from the beginning of our first meeting. I told him that I did not want to pressure him in doing something he doesn’t want to do. However, he was very determined and asked for my help for some of them. Through out the weeks, we did change some of the goals and objectives depending on how he did the week earlier. I did tell him that a gradual build up to working out and diet would be best. Also, I asked him what would motivate him and incorporated that into our system.
I used many different counseling techniques that we discussed in class to really be affective to my client. First, I made sure that I created a trust and built rapport to make sure I fully understood the patient and that he could
also rely on me. I made sure that I gave my client the best information that could be understood by him. Second, I made myself fully aware of my communication skills throughout the weekly sessions. I made sure I listened to what he was saying and I repeated what he said so he knew I understood what he was saying. When I responded to him, I made sure that I was being empathetic by trying to see where he was coming from and not judging him. I really made sure that my tone throughout the whole sessions were not showing that I thought I was better than him, but that I understood and sincerely wanted to help.

I really feel that to process was not as good as I had hoped, but I definitely made an impact. It really was hard to me because I was so close the participant. I was trying to not be as controlling about the whole situation and let them freely make choices on their own. However, by the end of the six weeks, I really think that I was able to show that eating healthy doesn’t always necessarily mean that the food can not be good. Also, that eating healthy can be enjoyable, but definitely need to plan a lot more, which I think was realized by the end and in the middle of the project.
I learned that helping someone change their behavior is not as always easy as it seems.
Many times during the process, it really felt that I had a weight on me because to me it was easy to change these certain behaviors due to the fact that I already eat healthy. However, it showed me that I have to use different motivation techniques to try and make them want to change. I could do many different kinds of things, but ultimately it is their decision to make the change because I am not always with them. I really learned the importance of motivation and helping someone understand that little steps at a time will eventually be life
changing.