As a younger man, I struggled to make it through the Catholic Mass without acting disruptively. The old stand/sit/kneel dance kept me somewhat engaged, and as I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate the space for meditation that rituals tend to provide. Even now, I am seldom able to hold my attention on the priest for his entire 10-15 minute homily (enormous respect to my spiritual cousins, the evangelicals, who remain engaged with hour-long sermons regularly), so naturally, when I was a child, there was an almost zero chance I walked out of church each week knowing what the message was. Yet occasionally, I caught lightning in a bottle, and one such week has stuck with me into adulthood. The homily began with the priest reminiscing on his own childhood and his pastor’s habit of repeating the same sermons for weeks at a time. One day, he finally worked up the nerve to ask his pastor why and was told, “I’ll stop repeating myself when the congregation takes the message to heart.”

In keeping with that theme, way back in September of 2022, I wrote about the process of change — why it’s difficult, why it’s uncomfortable, and why it’s ultimately necessary for the health of the legal profession. Given the grim results of recent American Bar Association surveys, it’s time to revisit that discussion. In 2023, the ABA’s Profile of the Legal Profession noted that barely half of the respondents signaled a belief that their workplace was supportive of their mental health needs.¹ More alarmingly, attorney suicidal ideation was reported to be nearly double that of the general population, and if it weren’t for the encouraging influx of women into the profession (who now make up more than half of all law students and more than half of all first-year associates), that number would be far more than double, as men were reported to experience suicidal ideation at a rate of 9.1%, versus 7.8% for women.²

At this point, most respectable journalists would be touting a pie-in-the-sky policy overhaul to fix the problem of lawyer well-being, but, unfortunately, I am neither respectable nor a journalist. Instead, I subscribe to 20th-century philosopher Michael Joseph Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” thesis, and if you too want to “take a look at yourself and make a change,” hopefully you’ll find the following primer on the stages of change useful.³

The stages of change, as developed by DiClemente and Prochaska as a facet of their transtheoretical model, describe the various processes that a person undergoes on their way to lasting, meaningful change.⁴ Therapists use this model regularly to tailor the most appropriate interventions for their clients, but it is so effective that it has become ubiquitous amongst other professions that also seek to influence human behavior. Take, for example, the myriad of anti-tobacco commercials aimed at reducing teen nicotine consumption. These are aimed at people in the precontemplation stage of change. Truthfully, every advertisement qualifies as a precontemplative intervention. People in this stage of change have not yet recognized that a problem behavior exists, and so the goal becomes raising awareness of the issue. The cruel irony lies in the idea that a person who refuses to acknowledge a problem is generally not open to persuasion, as they see no need to take steps to mitigate the issue. In concrete terms, a Venn diagram comparing people who read the Practicing Wellness column and people who are precontemplative regarding lawyer well-being would look like two externally tangent circles.

Precontemplation is, in my opinion, the most difficult stage to exit. It not only involves an awareness of our own behavior but also requires acknowledgment that the behavior is harming either ourselves or other people and willingness to take accountability. Ambivalence is the enemy of change, but it can be combated through decisional balance, more colloquially known as the pro/ con list. This is a helpful tool to use when logic and reasoning are unimpeded by intense emotion, stress, or a mind-altering substance. The key is to critically question each pro and con for each item on your list, asking yourself, “Why is this on the list?” and “What need does this fulfill?” This is a great way to utilize decisional balance to improve your own motivation.

Once the problem has been acknowledged, the next stage is known as contemplation. People in this stage are willing to identify the problem, but not yet willing to do anything about it. The most common reasons for resistance include lack of readiness, lack of confidence or, as is the case with every politician who has ever lived, lack of desire because they have determined the problem is still more beneficial than the solution. If you happen to be a legal stakeholder and have ever thought to yourself, “Maybe I don’t need to make my associates miserable just because I was,” but you haven’t actually done anything yet, consider yourself firmly in contemplation. The best way forward is to find ways to continue strengthening your resolve, which usually involves seeking outside support.

Once the tipping point has been reached and you begin to feel compelled to make a change, the next stage is preparation.

This involves making a plan regarding what your path to change will be, and that plan should include intermediate goals that are both attainable and measurable. It’s also important to identify potential barriers to progress and make a plan on how to deal with them. Once the plan is in place, the action stage begins. While implementing the plan, it’s important to also continue to utilize support systems put in place during other stages, honestly evaluate the plan, identify points of failure and positively reinforce successes. Finally, the maintenance stage is all about reinforcing the new behavior and establishing a greater sense of self-efficacy to give your behavioral change the best chance of becoming a permanent one.

Incorporating a positive new habit or stopping a destructive one can feel like a monumental effort. Listening to your discomfort to start the change process and then managing it during the process can be absolutely grueling. If the stressors or barriers to making a positive change are too overwhelming, reach out to the State Bar of Michigan Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program to find out which resources are available to you.