Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 1:7-15 (2001)
© 2001 Oxford University Press
Mastering Change: A Core Competency for Employees
From Pro-Change Behavior Systems, West Kingston, RI (Prochaska, Levesque, and Prochaska), Cancer Prevention Research Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI (J. O. Prochaska and Wing), and Clarke, Dean, Moody, & Pyle, Santa Barbara, CA (Dewart)
Contact author: Janice M. Prochaska, MSW, PhD, President and CEO, Pro-Change Behavior Systems, P.O. Box 755, W. Kingston, RI 02892. E-mail: janicepro{at}aol.com.
Organizations are changing at an unprecedented rate and requiring individuals to change with them. Change can be exciting and create opportunities for learning and personal growth. It can also arouse anger, frustration, anxiety, and a sense of helplessness especially in those who are not ready for change. Staff clinicians who learn to master the change process through gaining skills in proactive learning, collaborative teamwork, and stress management can increase their sense of well-being and security, and effectiveness in an ever changing workplace. They can also help their agencies cope more productively with changes, whatever they may be. To master change behavior involves traveling through a series of five stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. To master change employees need to know where they are currently in the stages of change for proactive learning, teamwork, and stress management, where they need to go next, and the strategies for how best to get there.
KEY WORDS: mastering change, transtheoretical model, stages of change, brief treatment