Exercise: Stages of Change for Smoking Cessation

Sometimes change talk can be hard to recognize. It doesn't always sound like an unequivocal intention to change! But even ambivalent types of change talk can indicate that a client is already in the contemplation stage -- they are at least thinking about making a change.

Indicate whether each of the following statements by a parent/caregiver shows that they are in:

• The precontemplation stage where they are not yet ready to talk about change
• The early contemplation stage where they are thinking about it but also verbalizing ambivalence
• The late contemplation stage where they are almost ready to make a change but not quite there