Self-Change Preliminary Contract

Presenting Problem

A habit is an acquired behavior pattern that is regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary in nature (Dictionary.com, 2015). Typically, people view habits as being negative; however, not all are. For instance, as part of an overall good hygiene and healthy lifestyle I developed the habit of brushing my teeth before I go to bed. Brushing my teeth has become part of a ritual I typically perform in the evening before bed. However, a recent visit to the dentist indicated that I had developed a cavity. The ensuing discussion I had with the dentist convinced me that I am not brushing my teeth long enough or often enough. If I continue my current habits I can expect to have more cavities. Therefore the focus of myself change project is to develop the habit of brushing my teeth more often and for a longer duration during each session.

Because I tend to be very self-conscious about my appearance and overall health this is an extremely important goal for me to achieve. The avoidance of further cavities in the future ranks a 10 on a scale of one to ten. Thus, I am highly motivated to achieve this goal and am in the contemplation stage at the beginning of this project as I had not yet developed a plan (Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 1994).

II. Target Problem

This particular problem consists of two parts: The first piece is to increase the frequency with which I brush my teeth from once daily to three times daily. The second is to increase the duration of my tooth brushing per session to at least three minutes in accordance with my discussion with my dentist.

III. Assessment Plan

A six-day baseline...

During the baseline assessment I brush my teeth once a day before retiring in the evening on all six days. The duration of my brushing sessions was quite variable and ranged from less than a minute to just a little over a minute and a half. It was obvious that while the habit of brushing my teeth before going to bed had been maintained, the effort and quality of brushing I had been performing was lacking.
IV. Goal

The final goal for this project is to establish a practice of brushing my teeth three times a day and brushing them for three minutes duration each time. The brushing sessions would occur in the morning upon rising, at midday, and again before going to bed in the evening. The goal was to make brushing my teeth three times a day habitual so that it is entrenched in my daily routine so that both the increase in the rate and duration of tooth brushing becomes functionally autonomous (Allport, Vernon, & Lindzey, 1960).

Implementation

Each week I recorded my brushing habits as they occurred in a spiral notebook and presented them weekly to my coach. In the first week my enthusiasm and the very act of recording my behavior and timing my brushing sessions went smoothly, most likely due to the fact that just observing and recording my behavior helped me change it (Allport et al., 1960; Skinner, 1960). In order to make sure that I remembered to brush my teeth in the morning it was easy to just place the toothbrush, toothpaste, and notebook on the sink where I would see it when I went to the bathroom in the morning. However, near the end of the week I noticed that I was having difficulty with the noon session and the duration…