tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667516629745731439.post3663830472942920211..comments2024-03-20T05:29:43.311-07:00Comments on Diary of a Real-Life Veterinarian: Fear and Guilt. Why these won't help your pet get better, and why our pets are smarter than we are.krista magnifico, DVMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15133566329579911573noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4667516629745731439.post-16978508671672434412015-01-31T11:08:24.147-08:002015-01-31T11:08:24.147-08:00Krista,
Thank you for using my situation as an e...Krista, <br /><br />Thank you for using my situation as an example, because I have a feeling I'm not the only client who has ever procrastinated due to fear! <br /><br />Reflecting on my situation - in terms of procrastinating and "deciding not to decide" - I remembered something I learned in grad school when I was seeking my counseling degree. It's a model that describes stages of change, and I'm bringing it up because it shines a light on some of the mystery in human behavior when it comes to decision-making, and why we delay. The model was originally intended to describe the process of change in the context of addiction, but it applies to many other things, I think. The model is known as Prochaska's "Stages of Change." <br /><br />Studies of change have found that people move through a series of stages when modifying behavior. While the time a person can stay in each stage varies, the tasks required to move to the next stage aren't. Certain principles and processes of change work best at each stage to reduce resistance and facilitate progress.<br /><br />There are five stages of change, and I think they're relevant to a situation like deciding whether or not to face one's fear and take action to overcome it. With respect to my dog, for example, I was stuck for a long time in the stages known as "contemplation" and "preparation."<br /><br />1) Pre-contemplation: the point at which an individual has no intention to take action in the foreseeable future (in studies "foreseeable future" = about 6 months.) In this stage, the individual is either uninformed or under-informed about the consequences of their behavior.<br /><br />2) Contemplation: In this stage, a person INTENDS to change in the next 6 months. They're more aware of the pros of changing, but they are also acutely aware of the cons.<br /><br />3) Preparation: the point at which one intends to take action within the immediate future (defined as one month.) At this stage there is likely to be a plan of action in mind.<br /><br />4) Action: self-explanatory, but here a person has taken specific, overt, observable action toward change.<br /><br />The 5th stage is known as "maintenance" - the change has been established, the behavior has been changed, and now the task becomes maintaining the change.<br /><br />I'm not bringing this up as an excuse, because it ISN'T. It’s more like a description of the anatomy of the decision-making process. <br /><br />Is it helpful to know about this? Maybe. Maybe it can help veterinarians (and human doctors) to be able to identify at which stage in this process the client/patient is, and work with them accordingly. Which maybe means altering expectations of client/patient behavior, when you are aware of which stage they're in. Or, even if you’re not aware of the stage, at least knowing there are stages might help.<br /><br />For example, somebody in the pre-contemplation stage is just not going to take action, no matter how loudly you are conveying your message. But the message may help that person begin the transition into contemplation, because you've made them aware of the pros of change, as well as the cons. <br /><br />In the same way, if a client/patient is stuck in the preparation stage, moving them into the action phase might best be accomplished through establishment of trust, as you wrote in your blog. You also talked about opening up your mouth and confessing the emotions of the heart, which can only occur where there is trust. <br /><br />Thank you for being someone I can trust.<br /><br /> <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09234474952078198292noreply@blogger.com