Behavior Modification Strategies

Behavior Modification Strategies

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In a previous article, Stages of Change, you learned about how to better identify a person's willingness to change, and how to modify your approach to help that client. To further that idea, there are specific behavior modification strategies that can be employed to help a client change their behavior. They are:

*Decisional Balance

*Self-Efficacy

*Ten Processes of change

Decisional balance pretty much involves weighing pros and cons. The most basic understanding of this concept is if there are more pros than cons for a given decision, than one would expect a decision to be made in the direction the pros were on. However, the sheer volume of pros does not always out weigh the cons. The power of decisional balance ultimately lays with the client. To further this idea, let's take a fictitious potential client, Fred, who is trying to decide on whether or not he should join a gym. If there are 5 positives about exercising and only 2 negatives (lets say the cost and the amount of time it would take for the client to travel back and forth to the gym) one would surmise good ol' Fred would decide to join the gym. However, if those two negatives carry more weight with Fred, he would ultimately decide joining the gym is not for him. Decisional balance is more of a value based system then a logic based system. It is always important, however, to use decisional balance as it can help the client see past their own preserved values, and eventually make a change.

Self-Efficacy is what it has always been, someone's belief of their capability to perform or complete a task. What's important with self-efficacy in terms of identifying a clients readiness for change is the trainers ability to help analyze a client's perceived negative self-efficacy traits (such as eating too much cake at birthday parties) and helping that client create a plan which will help them prevent the given activity the next time it comes around (such as having them plan ahead and bring some sugar free snacks they can eat while everyone else is eating cake).

Ten processes of change involve five cognitive/affective processes:

*Getting information

*Being moved emotionally

*Self image

*Role modeling

*Social norms

& five behavioral processes:

*Making a commitment

*reminders/cues

*rewards

*social support

*substitution (counter conditioning)

The cognitive processes are more useful for those who are still in pre-contemplation/contemplation stages. For a person to want to make a change, they need: sound scientific proof exercise can work, some sort of emotional activator to help motivate them to change (such as learning they have type 2 diabetes), a self image that is parallel to the new behavior (if they feel they are only good at playing video games than the chance of them successfully changing to one who exercises is small), their desire to be a role model (if their friends are also diabetic, it may help them decide to change if he/she has a desire to help their friends and be that example of healthier living) and social norms such as their support structure/family members (if their support system does not match with their desired goals/outcomes, that could lead to possible issues in exercise retention). All components are essential to change as no one component can make a difference. It is a balance of them all, with some weighing more than others, depending on the person.

The behavioral processes are better suited for individuals in the preparation, action and maintenance stages. Both processes are for individuals who are struggling to either make a decision to change (pre-con/contemplation) or for those who already made a change and are struggling to keep the change. For a person to stay on the path of healthier living they need: support in making a commitment (an acknowledgement by the client to not only make a change but be steadfast in their pursuit of their commitment), reminders or cues of their commitment (such as a daily calendar reminder in their phone), various rewards for attaining small goals (that will eventually lead them to their overall goal they committed to), and strong social structure that supports their commitment (such as friends who also workout and know the struggles of trying to keep their diabetes under control).

For more information on behavioral change, pick up a copy of the American College of Sports Medicine's Resources for the Personal Trainer Manual, 2nd Edition.

About the Author:
Dimitri Onyskow is Director of Academic Relations for Educational Fitness Solutions, Inc (EFS). EFS, in partnership with the College-University Partners Network™ and national organizations, has created innovative, Web-based certificate programs in Nutrition, Fitness, and Health. To learn more, visit our website: http://www.efslibrary.net



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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