Clay's Father Was Recently Diagnosed with Lung Cancer

Clay's father was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Though the doctors believe they caught the condition early enough to help Clay's father, Clay is frightened enough by the diagnosis to decide to quit smoking himself. He throws out his cigarette packs and lighters, joins a smoking-cessation support group, and puts the money he might otherwise have spent on cigarettes into a jar so he can reward himself for quitting. Clay is in the __________ stage of the transtheoretical model.

A) self-verification
B) action
C) contemplation
D) precontemplation