If you answered "yes" to two to five on these questions -- or you know
someone else who would answer in this range-- you may be interested in a program to help midlife and older women move toward more positive mental
health attitudes and behaviors.
This project is based on an important model of
how people change -- and how they resist change. Most of us have attempted to
change either our own behavior or the behavior of another person. Many
of these attempts have some short-term success, but the old patterns reassert
themselves after six months or so.
The "Stages of Change" model has been
developed by researchers who realized that there is a pattern to how
individuals confront challenges to change.
They identified six stages in the process of
change, which they termed:
If we want to change
ourselves or others, it is crucial to know these stages so that we can
offer the incentives and support which are most effective, and avoid
those which will not work. In this project we want to learn more about
how to promote mental health among midlife and older women by using a
stages of change model.
If you have been thinking
about making a personal change that would improve your life, you
are not alone. In our "Changing for Good" project Focus Groups
with OWL members and friends we have been learning a lot about how
we are thinking about making personal changes. If you haven't
really done much about it - you are also in good company. Change
is hard. Most of us prefer the familiar to what we think might be
better.
"We only change when the pain of not changing is
even greater than the pain of changing." Wise words shared by
Richard Malcolm (publisher of Life Times, at a recent
reception).
How We Avoid
Change
Some of us avoid change
by searching for absolute certainty that a change will lead to a
desired outcome (I will walk a mile each day this week only if you
promise me that I will feel energized). Or we wait for a magical
moment (I will call someone to go to the movies with me when I am
feeling really confident).
How We Can Motivate
Ourselves to Change
If we want to change, we need to
focus on the negative aspects of our undesirable behavior - and
think about how things could be different if we could change. We
need to set personal goals for change, and imagine how good we
will feel about ourselves once we change. We need to seek out
friends who will empathize with us about how difficult it is to
make changes and praise us for making the effort. We need to avoid
those who make the mistake of reassuring us that of course we can
change with no great effort. It's helpful to have friends who
remind us of the rewards of changing, and remind us that they like
us no matter how fast or how much we change. (That seems
paradoxical, but it's true: few people change under pressure or
threat from others.)
The OWL "Changing
for Good" Project
OWL Illinois partnered with the Institute
of Psychology at Illinois Institute of Technology in a project funded by the
Office of Women's Health of the Illinois Department of Public Health. This special project
was directed by Margaret Huyck, Ph.D., in her capacity as a professor at IIT
and President of OWL Illinois. OWL chapters are participating in several ways.