Transtheoretical Model of Change
Addictive disorders can have a substantial detrimental impact on individual adults, as well as children and families. One need only attend a juvenile court, a family court, as well as criminal courts and, at times, civil proceedings to hear the details of how alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, some other substance, or any combination of the above resulted negatively on the existence of humankind.
Over the past decade, the addiction treatment field has made substantial progress in identifying new techniques to deal with this problem. This paper will discuss the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM), which has had a substantial impact on addiction therapy.
The TTM has proven successful with their wide variety of simple and complex health behaviors, including smoking cessation, weight control, exercise acquisition, and narcotics addiction. The TTM has found that individuals move through a series of five stages (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) in the adoption of healthy behaviors or cessation of unhealthy ones. The TTM uses the stages of change to integrate cognitive and behavioral processes and principles of change, including 10 processes of change, pros and cons (i.e., the benefits and costs of changing), and self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in one 's ability to change), all of which have demonstrated reliability and consistency in describing and predicting movement through the stages. These stages apply regardless of whether the individual is attempting to adopt a healthy, adaptive behavior or stop an unhealthy, maladaptive behavior ( Prochaska 39-46) . A brief description of each stage follows.
Pre-contemplation is the stage in which an individual has no intent to change behavior in the near future, usually measured as the next six months. Precontemplators are often characterized as resistant or unmotivated intend to avoid information, discussion, or thought regard the targeted health
Over the past decade, the addiction treatment field has made substantial progress in identifying new techniques to deal with this problem. This paper will discuss the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM), which has had a substantial impact on addiction therapy.
The TTM has proven successful with their wide variety of simple and complex health behaviors, including smoking cessation, weight control, exercise acquisition, and narcotics addiction. The TTM has found that individuals move through a series of five stages (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) in the adoption of healthy behaviors or cessation of unhealthy ones. The TTM uses the stages of change to integrate cognitive and behavioral processes and principles of change, including 10 processes of change, pros and cons (i.e., the benefits and costs of changing), and self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in one 's ability to change), all of which have demonstrated reliability and consistency in describing and predicting movement through the stages. These stages apply regardless of whether the individual is attempting to adopt a healthy, adaptive behavior or stop an unhealthy, maladaptive behavior ( Prochaska 39-46) . A brief description of each stage follows.
Pre-contemplation is the stage in which an individual has no intent to change behavior in the near future, usually measured as the next six months. Precontemplators are often characterized as resistant or unmotivated intend to avoid information, discussion, or thought regard the targeted health
Cited: Prochaska, J. O. "13." Stages of Change and Decisional Balance for 12 Problem Behaviors. 39-46. Print. New York: Farrar 1994 Prochaska, J. O., and W. F. Velicer. "12." The Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change. 38-48. Print. New York: Cassell 1997