“I think I need therapy”
For some people, this is a big realisation to make to yourself. Others might be muttering this to themselves daily! Wherever you may be at with your counselling journey, I wanted to share some information about the change process because ultimately that’s what we are trying to do in therapy. It is also important to stop and reflect if you are ready for this step.
The Cycle of Change
The cycle of change is a well-known framework that was originally developed to help understand the stages of change in those suffering from addiction. By better understanding these stages, counsellors are better able to help clients prepare for and create meaningful change. Mental health professionals soon discovered this model can be applied to almost any change you may be trying to create, including improving your mental health, changing patterns of behaviour, stopping negative thoughts, and maybe even finally feeling truly happy within yourself.
The Stages When Preparing for Counselling
- Pre-contemplation: This looks like the person who says “I don’t need counselling” or “there is nothing wrong with me”. It is the person who is not ready to acknowledge there is a problem, let alone take the steps to make change. We all know people like this and it can be frustrating to watch. The fact you are sitting here reading this, suggests you are not in the pre-contemplation stage.
- Contemplation: This is the stage when you have admitted to yourself or others that things aren’t going well but are not sure exactly what to do about it. You may or may not have considered counselling as an option at this stage but there is no intention of action yet.
- Preparation: At this point, you have contemplated the problem enough and you are ready to do something. You may be researching therapists with the intent to make contact, talking about it, deciding what you need, and setting aside money and time to proceed.
- Action: This is when we talk! You’ve made the commitment to counselling, you are turning up, you are listening, sharing, thinking, exploring and…things are changing!
5. Maintenance: Maintenance occurs when the big leaps and changes have been made. You may feel like you still want to engage in therapy to keep you on track, but for the most part, you now know what you need to know and things are going well. This stage continuing to practice the changes you have made.
6. Relapse: Of course, life still happens. Perhaps in your first round of therapy, we only uncovered some of the top layers of the issues and it hasn’t been enough when things get tough again or a completely new life transition or stressor has arisen and it has set you back. For whatever reasons, you feel like you are back where you started.
It’s important to note with this diagram, it’s expressed as a circle, which means whenever life sets us back (or “relapses”), we have the ability to start again. It also is expressed as an upwards spiral, in that, even though you may be starting from stage 1 again, you have learn and grow every time you go through these cycles.
For further reading on this concept, check out this website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556005/
Where are you in the Cycle of Change?
Take a moment to shut your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Tune into yourself and how you feel about the issues in your life. Do you acknowledge there is a problem? Have you thought about what needs to happen in order to solve your problems? Have you researched therapy and are you ready to take action?
This is NOT about convincing you to book a session.
You may be surprised to hear that this blog is NOT about convincing or motivating you to get to the action stage and book counselling sessions with me. Nope. I am here for my clients whatever stage they are at however the last thing I would want is to push a client into therapy before they are ready.
So. Take this opportunity to sit with where you are at right now. Understand where you have come from. Look forward to what’s next. And let me know when you are ready to chat.
I offer in person counselling services from my offices in Edithvale and Somerville as well as Australia wide online.
Read More
You can check out other posts by searching by categories, recent posts or the search bar to find out more about topics that matter to you.