Processes of Change in Brain and Cognitive Development - Essay Example

PROCESSES OF CHANGE Name Institution Date PROCESSES OF CHANGE Change can in simple terms is the process of making something or someone different. Therefore behavioral change is the process where an individual’s behavior becomes different. Processes of change are the steps to be followed sequentially for the purpose of achieving the transformation required. In this case, the process of changing drug behavior was discussed. The purpose of the investigation is to understand how behavior can be changed successfully. It also helps in minimizing the impact caused by drugs on human beings. Our society today has been infested with the plight of drug addiction. It is a problem as it leads to most young people being unproductive in the community. The investigation sorts to find out the remedy this problem. It involved two respondents who were smokers. Respondent X’s attempt to give up smoking was successful while that of Y was unsuccessful. The Trans theoretical Model utilizes the stages of change to come up with the most robust processes and principles of change from leading theories of behavioral change and counseling. It is based on the principles developed from over 35 years of scientific research, scores of empirical studies and intervention development. Furthermore, it implies the research funded that was worth 80 million dollars and involved over 150,000 research participants. In fact, it is used by professionals around the world. It is a bio psychosocial, integrative model to conceptualize the process of intentional behavior change. Unlike other models of behavior change that focus fully on dimensions of change, TTM seeks to integrate and include key constructs from other theories into a comprehensive theory of change that can be applied in a variety of population, behaviors and settings (Riekert, Ockene, & Pbert, 2014).  The stages of change are one of the most important parts of TTM. Studies have revealed that many people go through a series of stages when transforming behavior. While the time an individual can stay in each stage is variable, the processes required to move to the next stage are not. Certain processes and principles work best at each stage to minimize resistance, prevent relapse and facilitate progress. These include self-efficacy, decisional balance and the processes of change. The minority usually 20 percent of the population at risk is ready to take action at any given time. Thus, action guidance is not useful for people at the early stages. Therefore, guidance based on TTM leads to increased participation in the change process since it involves the whole population rather than the minority who are ready to take action (Munakata & Johnson, 2012). The stages were as follows. The very first stage is pre-contemplation or rather not ready. Individuals at this stage do not intend to take any action in the foreseeable future to change their behavior. The major cause of one being at this stage is uninformed or under-informed of the consequences of one’s action. Several unsuccessful attempts to change may lead to demoralization about the ability to change. Usually, both the informed or under involved tend to avoid talking, reading or even thinking about their high-risk behaviors. They are often referred to as unmotivated, resistant or unready for help. These particular individuals are those that don’t want to be enlightened. They are rigid and don’t mind about anything (Crabtree & Chaplin, 2013).  In this investigation, respondent Y belongs to this stage. He never intended to quit his smoking behavior. During the research, he was stating that he is smoking because his friends were smokers. He is under the influence of peer pressure. He has never had the consequences of smoking and therefore he belongs to the group of the uninformed. According to his response, it was concluded that he is conservative in such a way that he could not talk or even think about the high risks of smoking. On the other hand, respondent X was ready to take actions in quitting smoking. She was aware of the consequences of smoking. She underwent the process of consciousness raising, also known as getting the facts. It involves increasing the awareness about the causes, consequences, and cures of smoking. The intervention that increased this awareness includes feedback, bibliotherapy, and interpretations (DiClemente, 2011).  The second stage of change is contemplation, also referred to as getting ready. This is the stage in which individuals tend to change in the next six months. They are more informed about the advantages, but also acutely aware of disadvantages of changing. The analysis was carried out across forty-eight health risk behaviors, and the pros and cons of changing were equal. Consequently, the weight of the benefits and costs of changing can bring about an ambivalence that can lead people to remain in this stage for a long period. This phenomenon is usually characterized as chronic contemplation. Individuals at this stage cannot take traditional action-oriented programs which involve acting immediately (Miller, Heather & International Conference on Treatment of Addictive Behaviors, 2010).  Respondent X intended to start a healthy behavior within the next six months. While she is now more aware of the benefits of changing, the cons are being sidelined. She then started to think of the person she could be if she changed her smoking behavior. Furthermore, she started learning from the people who were nonsmokers. She underwent the process of environmental reevaluation, that is, she noticed the effect of smoking on others. Environmental reevaluation involves both cognitive and affective assessments of how the presence or absence of a habit affects the social environment, in the case the effects of smoking on others. On the other hand, respondent Y was not ready to change. He was not aware of the advantages of changing his behavior. He did not undergo the process of environmental reevaluation and could therefore not be aware of the effect of his smoking behavior to others (Starkweather, 2012).  The third stage of change is preparation. At this stage, people intend to take action in the immediate future, usually within the next thirty days. Typically, they take small steps that they think can help them make healthy behavior as part of their day to day lives. An example is that they tell their friends and relatives that they want to change their behavior. However, they should be encouraged to seek support from trusted people about their plan to change the way they behave and think about how they would feel if they acted in a healthier way. Most individuals at this stage have plans of actions such as joining education classes, buying a self-help book, talking to their physicians, consulting the counselor or relying on self-help approach. These are the best candidates for action-oriented programs (Hayden, 2010).  In this research, respondent X was very ready to take action within the next month (Feshbach, 2011).  She started making a progress of accepting the healthy behavior of not smoking as part of her life. She began informing other people about her intention to quit smoking. She underwent the process of self-reevaluation and social liberation. Self-reevaluation is also referred to as creating a new self-image. She realized that healthy habit is an important part of her life and who she wants to be. Factors such as identifying role models, values clarification and imagery are responsible for moving people towards self-reevaluation. During the interaction with TTM, the program might ask questions such as “imagine you have left smoking, how you would feel about yourself?" She also noticed public support for healthy behavior. She could join educational classes for quitting smoking. On the other hand, respondent Y did not intend to change at all. He was not willing to seek to counsel and could not imagine joining educational classes. The fourth stage is action. Individuals at this stage have changed their behavior within the last six months, and they are working hard to keep moving ahead. However, they need to learn how to strengthen their commitments to change and try hard not to slip back. The overall process of behavior change has been equated to action because the action is observable. In other applications, people have attained a criterion that professionals and scientists agree that it is sufficient to reduce the risk of disease. For instance, reducing the number of cigarettes one smoke per day or switching to low nicotine cigarettes was considered acceptable actions. Now the TTM is clear, only total abstinence counts. People at this stage are being informed of the techniques for holding on their commitments such as avoiding situations or people that might tempt them to behave in unhealthy ways and rewarding themselves for taking steps toward change (Kahan & Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014).  Respondent X had intentions to change her behavior. She vowed not to take any cigarette again. Additionally, she was aware of the techniques that would never allow her to slip back. She also promised not to get involved with individuals or situation that could lead her to bad behaviors. She underwent the process of counter conditioning and reinforcement management. She could substitute unhealthy ways of behavior with positive ones. She could also increase the rewards as a result positive behavior and reduce those that come from negative behavior. Respondent Y, on the other hand, had no action to change his behavior. He was not even ready to some cigarettes he smokes per day as suggested by other applications. Therefore, he cannot abstain from smoking. Maintenance is the fifth stage of change ((Gochman, 2013). . It involves monitoring of people who changed their behavior six months ago. More importantly, people at this stage should be aware of the situations that might tempt them to go back to unhealthy behavior, particularly stressful situations. Individuals at this stage are recommended to talk to and seek support from people they trust, spend time with those who behave in healthy ways and always engage in healthy activities to cope with stress instead of depending on unhealthy behavior. Maintenance lasts from six months to about five years. After twelve months of abstinence, 43 percent of individuals return to their regular smoking. It was until five years of abstinence the risk of relapse dropped to 7 percent (DiClemente, 2011).  Respondent X was aware of how to maintain her changed behavior. She knew the situations and the individual who could make her slip back. As a result, she could avoid such situations. The process of stimulus control helped her through this stage. It involves the use of cues and reminders that encourage healthy behavior as alternatives for those that encourage unhealthy behavior. On the contrary, respondent Y could not maintain his behavior. He could spend time with people who engage in unhealthy behavior, and could avoid healthy activities to cope with stress. Instead, he thought that smoking would manage his stress.  The last stage of change is termination (Murphy & Maiuro, 2013).  It is the stage at which individuals are not tempted as they have 100 percent self-efficacy. The change becomes irreversible, whether bored, anxious, lonely, stressed or angry individuals at this stage know that they cannot go back to unhealthy habits. In the study of former smokers, it was found that 20 percent reached the criterion of zero temptation and total self-efficacy. The achieving long-term effect often involves support from family members, a physician, a health coach or other motivational source. The use of supportive literature and other sources could also be used to avoid relapse from happening (Martin, Haskard-Zolnierek & DiMatteo, 2010). Respondent X would reach the self-efficacy stage. She was influenced by the process of reinforcement management. It involved increasing the rewards for her positive behavior and decreasing the rewards for her negative behavior. She was very clear about her decision not to go back to the unhealthy behavior of smoking. Her decisions were supported fully by the reminders and cues that acted as substitutes of unhealthy behavior. On the other hand, respondent Y would go back to his smoking behavior. The reason for this is that he could not reach a self-efficacy stage and thus, would be easily swayed back to his regular behavior. He didn’t possess the cues and reminders that he would use as substitutes of unhealthy behavior. Consequently, the process of quitting smoking was unsuccessful (Mason, Butler & Rollnick, 2010).  In conclusion, the assignment was purposely done to get the right procedure for ensuring a successful change to healthy behavior. The change is aided by The Trans theoretical Model that conceptualizes the process of intentional behavior change. It was also done to curb the menace of smoking in the society. Research showed that most individuals especially the youth are the smoker. It is very dangerous to their health making them unproductive in the society. Nevertheless, they cause health problems to nonsmokers, hence the need to destroy this unhealthy behavior. The process of change involves six stages that are critical in changing behavior. Therefore, it should be followed sequentially for the success of any behavioral change. References Attention and Performance (Symposium), Munakata, Y., & Johnson, M. (2012).Processes of change in brain and cognitive development. Oxford: Oxford University Press Crabtree, J., & Chaplin, A. (2013). Bolivia: Processes of change. London: Zed Books. Miller, W. R., Heather, N., & International Conference on Treatment of Addictive Behaviors. (2010). Treating addictive behaviors: Processes of change. New York: Plenum Press. In Kahan, S., In Gielen, A. C., In Fagan, P. J., & In Green, L. W. (2014). Health behavior change in populations. Starkweather, C. W. (2012). Speech and language: Principles and processes of behavior change. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall. In Riekert, K. A., In Ockene, J. K., & In Pbert, L. (2014). The handbook of health behavior change. Hayden, J. 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K., & In Pbert, L. (2014). The handbook of health behavior change. Mason, P., Butler, C., & Rollnick, S. (2010). Health behavior change: A guide for practitioners. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier. Read More