Cycle of Change: ideas, issues and implications

Abstract

The cycle of change model has been influential in our understanding of addictive behaviour since it was first developed in the early 1980s. It has been widely accepted and has guided practice in addictions particularly and in health psychology more generally. This is in spite of a number of significant problems in terms of its construct and predictive validity. This article summarizes the key contemporary criticisms of the cycle of change model and poses the question of why, in the face of these criticisms, does it remain so popular among researchers and clinicians alike.