Adapting to Change: Empowering Your Health Journey with Process-Based Skills

Adapting to Change: Empowering Your Health Journey with Process-Based Skills

On the road to better health, it’s easy to feel like you have to keep searching for the next treatment or quick fix, always trying to do something to make things better. However, at the Institute of Contextual Health (IOCH), we believe that real, lasting change happens when we slow down and take the time to understand how change in health works. Instead of rushing to find quick solutions, we pause, look closely at health problems, and try to understand what’s possibly going on. This slower, more careful approach helps us see health not just as a list of symptoms but as a complex mix of different factors affecting each other. By slowing down, we can find the most important areas—what we call “processes of change”—that we need to focus on. These processes are like guideposts that show us where to make changes that will impact health most. By breaking down health problems into smaller, more manageable parts, we can better understand what needs to be done. This helps us move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and instead allows us to personalize care, making it more effective for each person. By understanding these processes of change, we can focus on what will truly make a difference, leading to real, lasting improvements in health.

What Are Processes of Change?

Think of processes of change like containers that help us organize and manage the complexity of health issues. When dealing with health, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the factors involved. These containers group the most important elements into specific categories, making it easier to understand and focus on what will drive the most significant improvements. By breaking down the complexity into these manageable parts, we can better target our efforts and make real, measurable progress.

Rather than using a one-size-fits-all treatment plan, we identify the key changes that will make the biggest impact for each person. This way, care is personalized to fit the individual, making it more efficient and effective. Our approach recognizes that everyone is different, so we focus on what matters most to you, helping you achieve better health outcomes that are truly meaningful.

A Real-Life Example: Meet Alex

To see this in action, let’s consider Alex, who has a painful shoulder. Instead of immediately giving Alex a list of standard exercises that might not address his specific needs, we take the time to understand what’s going on with his shoulder. We slow down and teach Alex “skills” that engage multiple processes of change rather than just handing him a quick fix. For Alex, this means learning the skill of “movement with attention“—a practice that goes beyond just reducing pain and improving mobility. It helps him connect with the key factors contributing to his discomfort.

By focusing on movement with attention, Alex learns to slow down and pay close attention to how he moves. He becomes more aware of the sensations in his shoulder and how his entire body responds. This approach isn’t just about his shoulder; it’s about understanding how it works together with his shoulder blade, trunk, elbow, and hand, otherwise known as a kinetic chain. By spreading the effort across these different parts, Alex reduces the strain on his shoulder and improves the quality of his movement.

This slower, more thoughtful approach allows Alex to make changes that are not just effective but also meaningful and lasting. It’s not just about doing exercises—it’s about understanding how to move better through new skills that address his current issue and allow him to handle future challenges. By learning these skills, Alex gains the confidence and ability to apply what he’s learned to other areas of his life, whether managing new aches and pains or improving his overall movement and well-being. This approach empowers Alex to take charge of his health, making him an active participant in his journey rather than just following a set of instructions.

Understanding Change and Context

One challenge with conditions like Alex’s is that symptoms and movement problems can change from day to day. These changes in daily routines, environments, and activity demands are what we are referring to when we say “context.” This means that creating a plan from a single evaluation and focusing on a specific set of exercises might only be helpful for a short time as Alex’s context changes. At IOCH, we understand the importance of teaching skills that adapt to changing needs rather than sticking to a rigid plan or single-purpose exercises. Unlike exercises that serve just one function, these skills are versatile and can be applied in various situations, helping individuals navigate their health challenges more flexibly and confidently. This adaptable approach ensures that our care evolves with the person, making it more effective in the long run.

For example, Alex learns to notice patterns, such as how his shoulder stiffens when he feels frustrated, stressed, or distracted. This awareness is critical—when Alex recognizes these moments, he can intentionally focus on reducing tension by paying closer attention to how his shoulder blade moves in relation to the rest of his body and deliberately trying to change the unhelpful automatic movement tendencies of his shoulder. This isn’t just about getting stuck in the idea of “fixing the shoulder;” it’s about understanding the broader connections in his movements and adjusting them in response to his body’s changing needs.

By focusing on processes of change instead of relying on simple, one-size-fits-all exercises, we take a broader view of the problem. This approach allows us to manage the current issue while also developing flexible and adaptable skills, preparing us for future challenges. Unlike rigid exercise plans that address only a single problem, these skills can be applied across various situations, empowering us to make adjustments as our needs evolve. This shift helps us build long-term resilience and adaptability, giving us the tools to handle not just the issue at hand but whatever comes next in our health journey.

The Power of Movement with Attention

When Alex practices movement with attention, he isn’t just going through the motions—he’s actively engaging both his body and mind. This practice involves several interconnected processes of change, such as improving movement quality, enhancing attention, increasing self-awareness, and distributing effort across multiple joints, like the shoulder, shoulder blade, trunk, and even down to the hand. These connected processes work together, allowing Alex to manage his condition more comprehensively and achieve lasting improvements.

By focusing on these key areas, his rehabilitation becomes more straightforward and manageable, zeroing in on the changes that will lead to the most significant improvements in Alex’s health. This approach avoids overwhelming Alex with rigid, complex routines. Instead, it emphasizes teaching adaptable skills that can be applied to different situations. This empowers Alex to make meaningful progress, gain confidence in managing his body, and ultimately build resilience against future challenges. Through movement with attention, Alex learns to take charge of his health, fostering a deeper connection with his body that supports lasting well-being.

Why This Approach Works for Alex: Turning Problems into Progress

This approach is practical for Alex because it uses the principles of the Science of Change—Variation, Selection, and Retention. These principles help us understand how small, targeted changes can lead to meaningful improvements in health by navigating the complex systems that drive our well-being.

1. Variation: For Alex, we began by exploring different ways to address his shoulder pain rather than just handing him a standard set of exercises. By integrating movement with attention during his daily activities, Alex could experiment with different methods, like noticing how shifting his weight or adjusting his movements throughout the day reduced strain on his shoulder. This variation process allowed Alex to engage with his body’s feedback, discovering what worked best for him within his unique context.
   
   
2. Selection: Once we identified the most effective strategies—such as focusing on the movement of his shoulder blade and distributing effort across multiple joints—we chose these approaches specifically to target the processes of change keeping his pain in place. As we described in a blog post on Complexity Science, this step involves moving from a Complex Maladaptive System (CMS), where ineffective patterns keep pain stuck, to more functional, adaptive behaviors. By selecting the right variations, Alex made small but impactful adjustments that disrupted the unhelpful patterns, nudging his system toward adaptability.
   
   
3. Retention: Finally, we focused on helping Alex retain and build on effective strategies. By continuing to practice movement with attention and adapting based on his body’s needs, Alex worked toward a “tipping point.” This tipping point represents a shift from being stuck in a CMS—where pain dominates and resilience is low—to a Complex Adaptive System (CAS), where his health improves and adapts to challenges. This shift is not just about short-term relief; it’s about equipping Alex with long-term skills that help him navigate new obstacles and maintain his well-being over time.

By applying the principles of variation, selection, and retention to processes of change, we ensure that the treatment process is personalized, empowering, and adaptable to a wide range of individual needs and health challenges.

Exploring Processes of Change is not about adding more interventions.

It’s about focusing on the fewest, most impactful actions that drive the greatest amount of change for each person.