[1] Psychology Resources Team

How to Change Behavior & Habits: 15 Therapy Techniques

Psychology Resources Team

Behaviour change is recognised by politicians, scientists, and therapists worldwide as crucial

to solving individual and social problems.
The development of effective behavioural solutions to tackle chronic health conditions,
mental health problems, financial difficulty, and criminal behaviour has impacted fields as
diverse as medicine health, policing, and education (Hagger, Cameron, Hamilton, Hankonen,
& Lintunen, 2020).
As a result, many behavioural theories have been developed that offer insight into
contextual, environmental, individual, and social factors that influence intervention effects
and highlight the potential to resolve problems rooted in how we behave.
This article introduces several theories behind behavioural change and techniques and
worksheets valuable in changing behaviour and habits.
This Article Contains:
• How to Change Behavior and Habits
• Setting Achievable Plans and Goals: 5 Examples
• Approaching Change: 4 Helpful Interventions
• 3 Techniques & Exercises for Therapy Sessions
• Eliciting Behavior Change: 12 Questions to Ask
• 4 Questionnaires to Measure Behavioral Changes
• 2 Activities for Group Settings
• A Take-Home Message

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [2] Psychology Resources Team
How to Change Behavior and Habits
“Many problems observed in today’s society can be linked, directly or indirectly, to human
behaviour,” including debilitating illnesses and chronic conditions, such as obesity, cancer,
sexually transmitted infections, and cardiovascular disease (Hagger et al., 2020, p. 1).
But making changes from existing unhealthy behaviours to new and positive ones is never
easy.
“If I continue to do what I have always done, then I’m going to get what I’ve always got”
(Forsyth & Eifert, 2016, p. 15). Unless we change how we behave, we are likely to get more of
the same.
And you need commitment. Only you can “decide whether to allow the barriers to continue
to stand between you and getting something different out of your life” (Forsyth & Eifert,
Psychology Resources Team

2016, p. 16).
But how do you change your behavior and habits?
Many psychological theories identify the factors that determine behaviour and inform the
cognitive development of behavioural change interventions. They include the following
(modified from Hagger et al., 2020):
• Theory of planned behavior
• Habit theory
• Trans-theoretical model
• Self-determination theory
• Social cognitive theory
• Control theory
While each theory is unique, they typically consider individual attitudes, beliefs, and
environment as vital in determining behavioural change.
Habit theory
Habits can be helpful; they “permit fluent action, preserve cognitive resources for other
tasks […], and ensure action is not forgotten” (Orbell & Verplanken, 2020, p. 179). As a result
of repetition, habits are an essential part of being human but not always healthy or helpful.
The challenge is to find a way to disrupt the habit by removing or ignoring the trigger,
inhibiting the habituated response, or replacing it with a new, healthier one (Orbell &
Verplanken, 2020).
Trans-theoretical model
The trans-theoretical model was developed in the 1980s to help people reduce unhealthy
behaviour (e.g., smoking and drinking too much) and increase physical activity (DiClemente
& Graydon, 2020).

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [3] Psychology Resources Team
The trans-theoretical model does not consider people to be lacking in motivation but as
needing to start, stop, or change how they act, placing them on one of five stages along a
journey:
• Stage one – precontemplation
• Stage two – contemplation
• Stage three – preparation
• Stage four – action
• Stage five – maintenance
For each stage, the individual must complete a set of tasks to move on to the next one. For
example, during preparation, the individual must commit to change and create a change
plan. During action, the plan must be implemented – problems solved – and revised as
Psychology Resources Team

required.
This is not necessarily a linear process but rather a cyclical process, with an individual
cycling through stages (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983).
Changing environments
While individual attitudes, beliefs, and plans are crucial, researchers increasingly recognize
the importance of the environment (Marteau, Fletcher, Hollands, & Munafò, 2020).
Choice architecture or nudge interventions focus on changing cues in small-scale physical
environments. For example, healthy eating can be encouraged through:
• Reducing the size of plates and glassware (discouraging overeating and excessive drinking)
• Placing very graphic warning labels on alcohol and food
• Making healthy food widely available
Testing the positives and potential negatives of environmental changes involves robust
laboratory and field studies to estimate effect sizes (Marteau et al., 2020).
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to change. Individuals, environments, and
socioeconomic conditions vary across countries and political ideologies, and we should
apply theories accordingly.
Setting Achievable Plans and Goals: 5 Examples
Making plans and setting goals are popular and proven mental health interventions for
behavioral change (Epton & Armitage, 2020).
Many of us will have used them in education or work-based settings to direct attention,
focus, and resources at a particular task.
While there are several popular approaches, the following two are common.
The SMART Goals Worksheet and the extended SMART+R worksheet use the acronym
SMART to guide goal capture and goal setting. Goals should be:

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [4] Psychology Resources Team
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time-bound
SCAMP is another valuable approach to goal definition. It focuses on five factors to ensure
maximum effectiveness and motivation when working toward goals (Kremer, Moran, &
Kearney, 2019):
• Specific
• Challenging and controllable
• Attainable
Psychology Resources Team

• Measurable and multiple

• Personal
Goal-setting theory differentiates between behaviour (such as eating more healthily, getting
more exercise, and adopting policies) and outcome goals (including building a community
centre, rolling out training practices, or getting a new job).
Examples of goal setting across different fields include (modified from Epton & Armitage,
2020, p. 556):
1. Social inequality
By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40% of the
population at a higher rate than the national average.
2. Fitness
Race under 40 minutes in a 10 km road race by September.
3. Workplace
Use the end-of-year review process as an opportunity to set attainable yet stretching goals.
4. Sport
Last year’s Olympics silver medalist says her next heptathlon goal will be to break the 7,000-
point barrier.
5. Environment
To reduce absolute carbon emissions by 35% by 2025/2026.
Approaching Change: 4 Helpful Interventions
Habits are powerful because they make every small decision – Should I have milk in my
coffee? – into a non-decision, freeing up resources. We don’t always create good habits such
as eating well; instead, we often form unhealthy ones, such as smoking or drinking too much
(Orbell & Verplanken, 2020).

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [5] Psychology Resources Team
It is possible to “ensure that new desired behaviors will be enacted consistently and not
forgotten” (create good habits) and “avoid a habituated action” (undo bad habits; Orbell &
Verplanken, 2020, p. 183–184.)
Creating good habits
While goals are crucial to getting things done, sustained change often requires a new set of
habits (Clear, 2018).
To turn behavior into a habit, it must be (Clear, 2018):
• Obvious
• Attractive
• Easy
• Satisfying
Psychology Resources Team

Try out the Creating Good Habits worksheet to put in place new positive changes in your life
(modified from Clear, 2018).
Undoing Bad Habits
Stopping harmful, negative, or unhelpful habits typically involves preventing their activation
in memory or the enactment of the habit response (Orbell & Verplanken, 2020).
The Undoing Bad Habits worksheet aims to break bad habits by making them invisible,
unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying.
• How could I make it less visible?
• How could I make it more difficult?
• How could I make it more unsatisfying?
Motivation to change
Motivation is a key factor in initiating and perpetuating change and is a factor in overcoming
both resistance and apathy (Ryan & Deci, 2018).
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Changing worksheet is a simple yet powerful way to
explore the advantages and disadvantages of making a change.
Consider the change. Is it the right thing to do? If it is, your answers should motivate you to
plan the changes you wish to make in your life.
Resilience and change
Change is often neither easy nor straightforward. Resilience helps you pick yourself up when
things go wrong and start again where you left off.
Carole Pemberton (2015) suggests considering the four Ss when building resilience, equally
valid for making changes. Ask yourself:
• What skills do I possess?
• What supports do I have (including family, friends, colleagues)?

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [6] Psychology Resources Team
• What strategies can I adopt?
• What sagacity (wisdom and insight) could be helpful?
Use the four Ss for the resilience and change worksheet to identify the psychological capital
you have available to support you along your change journey.
Learn from previous successful transformations and gain confidence in your abilities to
change.
3 Techniques & Exercises for Therapy Sessions
There are many tools, techniques, and exercises available that can help overcome problems
and facilitate change.
We have listed four below that are valuable for the therapeutic alliance and change
outcomes.
Psychology Resources Team

Managing resistance to change

There are many reasons a client may resist change. The following techniques can help
therapists ensure the therapeutic process is not damaged (Clay, 2017):
• Remain aware of your emotional and physical state and try to stay calm.
• Validate what the client is saying and display empathy.
• Reframe resistance by encouraging your client to explore and explain how they are feeling.
• Remember the bigger picture and how you can help them change by taking on the client’s
pain.
Miracle question
“The miracle question invites people to imagine a future where a solution to their problem
has been found and it no longer dominates their lives” (Rogers, Whitaker, Edmondson, &
Peach, 2020, p. 247).
Ask the client to imagine falling asleep one night and awakening the next day, and the
problems they have been talking about have disappeared.
What would it look like? How would they first see a difference? How would they feel?
The above ‘ask’ can be modified slightly to imagine what it would be like if the change they
wished for happened.
If–then plans
Implementation or if–then plans specify what to do should a particular situation (expected
or unexpected) arise (Rhodes, Grant, & de Bruijn, 2020).
Work with the client to identify as many as possible critical situations or cues that might
occur and the appropriate behavior to perform.
It may be helpful to write these out during or after the session and work through and
practice them.

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [7] Psychology Resources Team
Eliciting Behavior Change: 12 Questions to Ask
Motivational interviewing “is designed to find a constructive way through the challenges
that often arise when a helper ventures into someone else’s motivation for change” (Miller &
Rollnick, 2002, p. 4).
Ultimately, motivational interviewing is about clients talking themselves into change based
on their values and interests.
DARN is a helpful acronym for generating questions to encourage change talk and can help
invite change to happen.
The following worksheets and sample questions will help (modified from Miller & Rollnick,
2002):
• Desire questions explore the client’s desire for change and often include words such as
Psychology Resources Team

want, wish, and like. For example:

What changes do you hope these sessions will bring?
How do you want your life to be different in a year’s time?
How would you like things to change?
• Ability questions ask about what the client can do or what they could do, without expecting
them to commit. They prompt the client to consider what change is possible. For example:
If you decided to get fit, how could you do it?
What aspects of your life do you think you might be able to change?
How likely are you to be able to make that change?
• Reasons questions prompt if-then thinking. These questions help generate good reasons to
change, even if the client is not yet ready to do so. For example:
Why would you want to change your diet?
What would make it worthwhile to make that change?
What are the three best reasons for starting a new job?
• Need questions express “an urgency for change without necessarily giving particular
reasons” (Miller & Rollnick, 2002, p. 173). For example:
What needs to happen?
How important is this change for you?
What do you think has to change in your life?
4 Questionnaires to Measure Behavioral Changes
Behavioural change can be attempted at many levels within communities, groups, and
individuals.

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [8] Psychology Resources Team
Measures and assessments provide a means to track the success of change intervention
programs and increase the likelihood that the person will perform the behaviour (Godin et
al., 2010):
• Behavioral Risk Surveillance System (BRFSS)

BRFSS is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and provides mental health
questionnaires in multiple languages for tracking health-related behaviors.
• Advance Care Planning Survey

This survey assesses process measures that affect behavioral change, such as knowledge,
contemplation, self-efficacy, and readiness (Sudore et al., 2013).
• Science of Behavior Change

This website offers several measures for assessing behaviour and behavioral change,
Psychology Resources Team

including:
o Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – assesses self-reported behaviors

associated with the executive function.

o BIS/BAS Scale – measures the motivation to approach goal-oriented outcomes.

2 Activities for Group Settings

While the following cognitive development activities can be performed individually, they are
incredibly powerful in group sessions.
Powerful group change questions
Change is not easy. Before we are motivated to make the change, we must first dare to
dream of how that change may look.
These Powerful Change Questions encourage reflection of the bigger picture to help the
client consider what they really want. The questions also are helpful inputs to the GROW
coaching model (modified from Whitmore, 2017).
Take time to reflect on the questions and your answers. What do they tell you about what
you really want to do next in your life?
Nudge interventions in groups
A nudge “is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a
predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic
incentives” (Thaler & Sunstein, 2021, p. 8).
A group environment lends itself to exploring, identifying, and discussing nudge
interventions and their effect on individuals and the community, such as:
• Provision of information
Health warnings on cigarettes and calorie counts on menus to encourage a healthy lifestyle.

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1

 [9] Psychology Resources Team
• Changes to the environment
More stairs and fewer elevators to boost exercise.
• Use of norms
Supplying information on what others are doing socially to facilitate positive behaviour.
Each intervention has the potential to impact behaviour positively without eliminating or
restricting choice or introducing financial disincentives (Thaler & Sunstein, 2021)
Use the Group Nudge Intervention worksheet in a group setting to explore how to nudge
techniques can be more successful than attempting to enforce behavioural change.
A Take-Home Message
Effective behavioural solutions are crucial in managing chronic physical and mental health
problems and the ongoing challenges in society from financial difficulty and criminal
Psychology Resources Team

behaviour.
Making changes at a personal or community level is not easy. As a result, many behavioural
theories have arisen in recent decades to understand the influences on the effectiveness of
interventions and how to encourage their uptake.
New positive habits can be implemented and existing unhealthy ones disrupted to
encourage behaviour in line with overall goals. Environmental change can also be incredibly
powerful, making positive behaviour easier and promoting well-being.
Planning and goal setting are valuable tools for increasing motivation and positive feelings
regarding the potential to reach wished-for outcomes while tracking progress.
As a therapist, it is essential to work with clients to understand what they wish to achieve,
whether significant outcomes or smaller habitual, but equally important, behavioural
changes, as they encourage a happier, more fulfilling life.

Source: Google

To get such exclusive psychology resources join our WhatsApp channel:

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va4cUYi7tkjAQFo0RW00

Psychology Resources Team! Click the link: https://wa.me/message/VOJHRDL42E56I1