The Aitheros Model: Change

When people make a significant change in their lives, they often go through different phases of change. According to the Transtheoretical Model of Prochaska and DiClemente (1983), people go through five phases: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance. According to the Functional Family Therapy (FFT) Model, people go through three phases: Early, Middle, and Late. The Aitheros Model combines the work of the Transtheoretical Model (1982, 1984), the FFT Model (2000), Ridley (2002), Brammer (1991), Tasca and McMullen (1992), Atchley (1982), Blocher (1987), and Stiles (1999) and proposes that when people make a significant change in their lives, they go through five stages of change, based on Prochaska and DiClemente's (1982, 1984) Transtheoretical Model: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance. These stages, in turn, are comprised of ten substages, two per stage: manifestation of need and first-order change, awareness of disempowerment and building a relationship, assessing needs and choosing a solution, taking action and second-order change, and transcendence and evaluation, respectively.

The Aitheros Model (2002)	Transtheoretical Model (1982, 1984)	FFT Model (2000)	Ridley (2002)	Brammer (1991)	Tasca & McMullen (1992)	Atchley (1982)	Blocher (1987)	Stiles (1999)
Manifestation of Need	Pre-Contemplation	--	Resistance	Adaptation	--	Pre-State	Professional Goal Defining	Warded Off/ Symptomatic Expression
First-Order Change							Population Data Gathering
Awareness of Disempower-ment	Contemplation		Realization				Selection of Target Client Systems	Unwanted Thoughts/ Active Avoidance
Building a Relationship		Early			Beginning/ "Alliance-Forming"	Honey-moon	Communication/ Relationship Building	Vague Awareness/ Emergence
Assessing Need	Preparation		Resolution	Renewal		Disenchantment	Client Goal Negotiating	Problem Statement/ Clarification
Choosing a Solution						Re-orientation	Insight Introduction	Understanding/ Insight
Taking Action	Action	Middle	Responsible Action	Transfor-mation	Middle/ "Work"	Stability		Application/ Working Through
Second-Order Change							Modeling New Behaviors	Resourceful-ness/ Problem Solving
Transcendence	Maintenance	Late	Relapse Prevention	Transcen-dence	End/ "Consolidation"	Termination	Generalizing New Behaviors	Integration/ Mastery
Evaluation							Evaluating Process/ Outcome

Manifestation of Need. In the manifestation of need substage, a person has a problem or something which can be improved – something needs to change. The person may not be aware of it, but they have a need that is not being met. People have a variety of needs, including biological, safety, esteem, control, affiliative, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and transpersonal needs, which Maslow (1970) described in his hierarchy.

First Order Change. In the first order change substage, the person usually gains some awareness that something needs to change. They try to make a change, but it does not work. They keep doing what they have been doing all along, so they keep getting what they have been getting all along. But what they have been doing all along is not working; that’s why there is a problem in the first place. The person ends up spinning their wheels, but not getting anywhere. They are stuck in first order change.

Awareness of Disempowerment. In the awareness of disempowerment substage, the person realizes that they are disempowered – that their efforts to change are not working on their own. Like in the first stage of the Alcoholics Anonymous program, the person realizes that they have a problem, and admits it. This is the first step towards real change.

Building a Relationship. In the building a relationship substage, the person seeks outside help. This can be from a friend, a book, a counselor, a higher power, or something else. The person builds a relationship with this outside source, getting to know what the source has to offer. In the context of a therapeutic relationship, until now, the counselor and client have been going through these stages separately, on their own. The building a relationship substage is where the counselor-client relationship begins. A client enters counseling with a counselor, and the two of them build a relationship with each other. The client opens himself or herself to being influenced by another person, and the counselor uses his or her genuineness, warmth, empathy, respectfulness, nonjudgmentalness, expertness, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and microskills to foster an appropriate therapeutic relationship.

Assessing Needs. In the assessing needs substage, the person uses the outside source with which they have built a relationship to assess what their needs truly are – to understand what is not working or what could be working better, and how the person can go about making the kind of change they want to make. In counseling, the client takes a good and honest look at their own issues, and uses the counselor to help them understand their self better. Meanwhile, the counselor assesses the client’s needs, both formally using assessment instruments and informally using interviewing techniques and sound clinical judgment.

Choosing a Solution. In the choosing a solution substage, the person examines the different courses of action they can take, using their outside source as a guide, and then chooses a course of action. This is a decision-making process. In counseling, the client decides what to do. Meanwhile, the counselor chooses which interventions to use with the client. The counselor also chooses an approach to use with the client, based on his or her assessment of the client’s needs, the client’s development, or a combination of the two.

Taking Action. In the taking action substage, the person puts their decision into action, and follows through. In counseling, the client takes action, and the counselor acts to help the client where appropriate.

Second Order Change. In the second order change substage, the person gets results. If they have chosen wisely, they begin to make a change in their life – a real change. They are no longer just spinning their wheels; they are getting somewhere. They have expanded the paradigm and moved outside the box. They have begun second order change. In counseling, the client is actively working and receiving feedback from the counselor.

Transcendence. In the transcendence substage, the second order change sticks. The person rises above their problem, improves their self, and becomes a better, more fully-functioning person. In counseling, the client and counselor work together to maintain the gains the client has made.

Evaluation. Finally, in the evaluation substage, the person remembers and understands how they have changed, so they can do it again, apply it to the rest of their life, and share it with others. In counseling, this may involve formal evaluation measures, or simply checking in with the client about what went well and what did not go well in counseling. At this point, counseling reaches termination, and the therapeutic relationship between the counselor and client ends.

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