Jean Chatzky's Debt Diet: A Behind the Scenes Look - Page 2 of 2

Rooted In Research, but Controversy Remains (cont.)

There is some disagreement among psychologists as to whether the transtheoretical model actually works. Some research suggests that dividing behavior change into staged periods is random and ineffective. Other studies find that it neglects to include things like punishment and reward, which are known to influence human behavior. Still others find that the transtheoretical model is simply less effective than other models.

“The model has been little more than a security blanket for researchers and clinicians,” Robert West of the Brook House University College of London wrote in Addiction, the journal of the Society for the Study of Addiction. “A better model of behaviour change is clearly needed.”

Defenders of the transtheoretical model, including Johnson, say that the model’s critics are considering studies that generally failed to implement the model correctly. The method works best when people receive messages that are specifically tailored to where they are in the process, according to research by Seth M. Noar of the University of Kentucky.

[Related article: Get Out of Minimum Payment Hell]

“Most often, the problem is that people are not tailoring the program to variables that make a difference,” Johsnon says. “I can’t change the fact that you’re a man. But I can change the extent to which you’re noticing stories in the media about staycations and how even celebrities are cutting costs.”

From Smoking to Debt

In 1997, Prochaska founded Pro-Change Systems, a private company that develops different products based on the transtheoretical model. The company’s early efforts focused on a course to help people stop smoking, says Johnson, before branching out to offer other health-related classes.

Now Pro-Change is developing a series of classes on personal finance issues, Johnson says. The Debt Diet is among the first.

“It takes the best research on how to help you stop smoking and lose weight and manage stress, and couples them with advice for getting out of debt,” Chatzky says.

The Debt Diet was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2006. Chatzky and two other personal finance writers teamed up with three families who were deep in debt. Together they went through the Debt Diet system. The process lasted several months.

Two families managed to escape debt, or make their debt manageable. One family found it just couldn’t make the changes needed. While the system seems to work for most people, it’s common that some families aren’t able to stick with it, Chatzky says. Usually it has to do with motivation.

“They weren’t committed, and for that reason I think they didn’t succeed,” says Chatzky.

Join Jean Chatzky and Credit.com to get out of debt---for good---in The Debt Diet™ Challenge.

A New Debt Diet Challenge

Now Chatzky and Credit.com are joining together for the Debt Diet Challenge. Chatzky will work with five families who are deep in debt and provide them free access to the program (the Debt Diet normally costs $49.95/year). Chatzky will also personally counsel them on changes they can make to realize their current financial situation and take positive steps to improve it.

Click here to learn how to apply to be a participant in The Debt Diet™ Challenge.

Credit.com will feature regular blog posts written by challenge participants that document their progress, their struggles as well as the overall efficacy of the Debt Diet program. Readers will be able to interact with both the participants and Chatzky through Credit.com’s comments section, as well as Facebook and Twitter. We invite you to share stories about your own struggles with debt and techniques you’ve found to help dig yourself out.

“It’s like sticking to a diet or continuing to go to a gym,” Chatzky says. “When you kick-start that part of your willpower into gear, it’s a learned skill. And I think we can help people learn how to do that.”

Image courtesy of JeanChatzky.com