Capability vs Capacity - The Expectation Gap

By Rochelle Dunn

Why do people who can change... so often don't?

In helping professions, we focus on capability - what someone can do. But real change doesn't come from ability alone. It requires capacity - the emotional, cognitive, and environmental bandwidth to sustain it.

Capacity vs Capability: The Expectation Gap challenges a critical blind spot in trauma, education, and community work:

We are often asking people to make changes they do not have the capacity to hold.

This book introduces a practical, real-world framework for understanding why change breaks down - even when motivation and insight are present.

You'll learn:

The difference between capacity and capability - and why it mattersHow trauma, instability, and competing demands reduce bandwidth for changeWhy "resistance" often reflects overload, not unwillingnessHow to set achievable, sustainable goals that actually hold

This isn't about lowering expectations.

It's about aligning them with reality.

Because real change isn't what someone can do once -
it's what they can sustain.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1764350731
• ISBN13: 9781764350730
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Frank Social Care
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"