In the action stage, behavior actually changes. In maintenance, the changer is consolidating the new behavior, and struggles to prevent lapses and relapses. The main task at this stage is to establish a richer, more satisfying way of life. Termination is the sixth stage of change-it is the stage at which change has happened and the former problem presents no threat. Progression through the stages is usually not linear.
People can progress repeatedly from contemplation to action and back to contemplation.
In this spiral of change, people revisit stages when the work of that stage was not completed. As each stage is revisited, issues are dealt with in greater depth. Recycling is an opportunity to learn, gain missing information, redefine plans and take action again. People who take action and fail in the next month, Prochaska found, are twice as likely to succeed over the next six months as those who don't take any action at all. Each of the processes of change includes hundreds of techniques of change.