Criteria for Behavior Change: 10 Evidence-Based Coaching Practices
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Criteria for Behavior Change, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Practices that may help
- Apply the experiential processes early, behavioral ones later
Use consciousness-raising and emotional arousal early; counter-conditioning and stimulus control after you commit.
The Transtheoretical Model of Change, Made Practical - The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel
COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behavior) is a diagnostic framework developed by Michie and colleagues that maps the three conditions any behavior requires: you must be able to do it, have the opportunity to do it, and want to do it. Research supporting COM-B as a systematic intervention framework is largely expert-consensus and observational rather than RCT; its main value is stopping you from applying the wrong lever. - Install feedback loops to track behavior and adjust
Measure the behavior directly and use the data to update your intervention, not just your motivation.
The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel - Match your intervention type to the COM-B gap
Use the Behavior Change Wheel to select the intervention approach that fits the diagnosed gap — not your default.
The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel - Design the experiment as an environmental probe
Test one specific context change rather than your willpower.
Tiny Experiments: Testing Change Without Committing to It - Build psychological capability through knowledge and practice
Acquire the understanding and self-regulatory skill the behavior demands before expecting consistent performance.
The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel - Environment Design for Behavior Change
Environment design uses the well-documented finding that behavior tracks context more than intention: placing healthy options visibly, removing cues for unwanted behaviors, and reducing friction for good ones changes what people do without relying on willpower. The evidence for context effects on behavior is strong; specific design prescriptions vary in how well they have been tested. - Modify antecedents to trigger behavior before it depends on motivation
Change the cues that precede a behavior to make it more or less likely to occur.
Operant Conditioning and Schedules of Reinforcement - Diagnose before you prescribe with COM-B
Before picking a strategy, identify which of Capability, Opportunity, or Motivation is the bottleneck.
The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel - Engineer your physical environment to create opportunity
Rearrange space, tools, and access so the desired behavior is the path of least resistance.
The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I keep reaching for tracking apps and tidy action plans before I’ve done any of the inner work, and they never stick
- I have no real read on whether I’m actually doing this or just feel like I am
- I reach for the same go-to fix for every change
- I keep treating every change as a referendum on whether I want it badly enough, white-knuckling my way through
- I keep hitting obstacles I didn’t see coming and each one feels like proof I’m failing, when really I just don’t fully understand how this is supposed to work yet
Related concerns
- Basis For Behavioural Change
Use consciousness-raising and emotional arousal early; counter-conditioning and stimulus control after you commit.
Apply the experiential processes early, behavioral ones later
- Act Behavior Change
Use consciousness-raising and emotional arousal early; counter-conditioning and stimulus control after you commit.
- Behavior Change Analysis
Behavioral chain analysis (BCA), a core DBT skill developed by Marsha Linehan, maps every link in the chain of events — from the original vulnerability through the triggering event, thoughts, feelings, and actions — that led to a problem behavior. By making the chain visible, BCA reveals multiple points where the sequence could have been broken, turning a post-hoc autopsy into a concrete prevention plan.
- Behavior Change Strategy
Use consciousness-raising and emotional arousal early; counter-conditioning and stimulus control after you commit.
- Behavior Change Wheel
Use the Behavior Change Wheel to select the intervention approach that fits the diagnosed gap — not your default.
Match your intervention type to the COM-B gap
- Comb Behaviour Change
Use the Behavior Change Wheel to select the intervention approach that fits the diagnosed gap — not your default.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.