The Self-Care Shift: Applying the Transtheoretical Model to Our Own Social Work Wellness

Part 1: Precontemplation & Contemplation—Recognizing the Need for Change

WE, are Social Work Professionals. And as such, we’ve decided to encourage people to take small, meaningful steps toward healthier lives as our profession. Yet, when it comes to our own self-care, we often fall woefully short: Why? Believing we don’t really need it? Not thinking about it all? Thinking that self care is for other people only? The harsh reality is that social work is emotionally demanding, and without intentional boundaries and restorative practices, exhaustion and burnout will buck their head. It’s like erosion or going broke, it happens slowly at first and then all at once.

The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM)—a framework developed by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente—tells us that change is not a single event. Instead, it unfolds slowly. In stages: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance, and sometimes Relapse. Social workers are trained to guide clients through these stages, but we can also use the model to reflect on our own self-care practices. In this first part of this series, we’ll focus on the initial stages TTM: Precontemplation and Contemplation.

The Transtheoretical Model 30K foot view

• Precontemplation: Not yet recognizing that change is necessary, or not ready to take action.

• Contemplation: Acknowledging there may be a problem and beginning to consider change, but not convinced.

• Preparation: Intending to act and taking small steps forward.

• Action: Actively changing.

• Maintenance: Sustaining change and preventing relapse.

• Relapse (optional stage): Returning to old behaviors, then recommitting to change.

The power of this model is that it normalizes change as a process. It’s not a straight line. It’s a reminder that readiness comes in stages, and that self-care, like any other form of behavior change, requires patience and compassion. Just as our client care requires patience and compassion.

Precontemplation: When Self-Care Isn’t on the Radar

In this stage, people may not see their current behaviors as problematic. For social workers, this might sound like:

• “I don’t have time for self-care. My clients have my schedule covered up and they need me more.”

• “Being frayed and stressed is just part of the job.”

In Precontemplation, Helping Professionals may avoid self-care because it feels selfish or self indulgent. Or we may be completely ignorant and not connect our fatigue to a need for change at all.

Practical Step: Take a few minutes this week to journal about your beliefs. Ask yourself: What messages did I grow up with about rest, boundaries, or putting myself first? Do I believe that caring for myself helps or hurts the people I serve? Do you have family members in this field? (I do. Many of us do) How do they approach self care? Simply noticing our internal narrative is a powerful first step.

Contemplation: Acknowledging the Need but Feeling Stuck

In the Contemplation stage, awareness begins to surface:

• “I’m running myself ragged, but I don’t know how to stop.”

• “I need set better boundaries, but what if I let people down?”

Recognizing and naming the tension between your needs and others’ expectations can help shift you from stuckness toward intentional preparation.

Practical Step: Choose one area of SAMHSA’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness possibly emotional or physical. Now ask yourself: What’s one small change I’ve been considering, but putting off? What’s holding me back? Why haven’t I done this? What might improve if I tried?

Make 2 columns on a sheet of paper and write down both the pros and cons of changing and the reasons you’ve hesitated. This helps bring internal dialogue out into the open where we can work with it.

Awareness as the First Step

Recognizing where we are, whether still in Precontemplation or moving into Contemplation, is the foundation for real, sustainable life change. These early stages are not about instant transformation; they are about self honesty, self-reflection, and the courage to admit to ourselves that we’re dropping the ball somewhere and something has to give.

In Part 2 of the series, we’ll explore Preparation and Action. The next 2 stages of The Transtheoretical Model. And, we’ll look at simple, not easy, strategies to help us create momentum and move from intention to meaningful consistent self-care practices.