Health psychology change plan | PSY 3425 | Florida Institute of Technology

Change Plan Assignment

For this assignment, your task is to pick a specific behavior that you wish to change, and set up a plan for changing it. In a one- to two-page, single-spaced paper (750 words), clearly address each of the following, with Roman numerals and headings for each.

1.
Goal setting

1. State the specific behavior you wish to change (well-defined). Pick only one behavior, not a set of behaviors, or several different ones to change all at once

2. State the goal of behavior change in the long term (next few months or a year) and in the short run (remainder of this term). It would be wise to have a modest goal for the short term but a more ambitious goal to work toward over time

2.
Knowing the context and devising steps

1. Do you know the context in which this behavior now occurs? Under what conditions are you most likely to engage in the behavior you wish to change? What situational factors tend to increase the behavior? If you know these things, explain them. If you do not know these things, it would be useful to monitor yourself for a week and keep a log of the behavior frequency and circumstances in which they appear. If you do know these behaviors, state this as a step. The results of monitoring will improve your plan of behavior change

2. Break the goal down into small steps that are more easily attainable. For example, to meditate for five minutes, three times a week, might be a good start toward meditating for a half-hour five out of seven days a week. In between would be a gradual progression of small steps toward the goal

3.
Strategies

1. What new techniques will you use to increase the likelihood of behavior change? This is a plan of specific ways to combat your normal behavior tendencies and to initiate new ones. For example, if you bite your nails when you study, what methods can you devise to decrease this behavior? Do you study with gloves on? Do you put on bad-smelling hand cream to study? Do you ask a roommate to interrupt your studying any time you do this and to reprimand you? Do you polish your nails every other day?

4.
Keeping track of progress and giving yourself rewards

1. Use some kind of record keeping (a log or chart) to keep track of your progress. If no progress is made after the first week, revise the plan. Keep your records to hand in later

2. Decide on small rewards to give yourself each time you see progress (e.g., listen to music, watch TV, or have a special food on each day you practice a new behavior)

3. Decide on bigger rewards for major progress over a longer period of time such as one month or one quarter (e.g., dinner or a movie with a friend; buy a CD or some item for yourself)

Remember: What you write up for this assignment is your contract with yourself, and you should start making the behavior change when you hand in the paper, or before. I know you can do this and make substantial progress because many students before you have. Put your heart, soul, and mind into it. Good luck!