Drawing together motivational theory, research-based evidence and guidance for best practice, this book presents innovative models for goal-setting and goal pursuit in therapy with children. Setting goals not only allows children, and their families, to engage with the overall therapeutic process, but it also provides an essential motivational element throughout the entire therapeutic process. The editors and contributors give practical advice on empathically collaborating with the child and his or her family, to clearly identify achievable goals that can be wholeheartedly pursued. Key information on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is accessibly explained, which will aid professional understanding of the relationship between motivation, goal-setting, and strong therapeutic practice. The approaches in this book can be used by a wide range of professionals, including those who specialise in working with children with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and emotional and behavioural difficulties. The combination of theory, research and practical advice makes this book an essential resource for professionals working therapeutically with children, including occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, counsellors, psychologists, social workers, arts therapists and psychotherapists.

Recent evidence has shown that the successful setting of goals brings about positive outcomes in psychological therapy. Goals help to focus and direct clients' and therapists' attention in therapeutic work. They also engender hope and help energise clients. No longer are clients victims of their circumstances, but through goal setting they become people who have the potential to act towards and achieve their desired futures. Through the discussing and setting of goals, clients develop a deeper insight into what it is that they really want in life: a crucial first step towards being able to get there. Recent policies in both child and adult mental health services have supported the use of goals in therapy. However, the differing cultures, histories, psychologies, and philosophical assumptions of each form of therapy has brought about varying attitudes and approaches to goal setting. Working with Goals in Counselling and Psychotherapy brings the attitudes of all the major therapeutic orientations together in one volume. With examples from cognitive behaviour therapy, psychodynamic therapy, humanistic therapy, interpersonal therapy, and systemic therapy Working with Goals in Counselling and Psychotherapy truly is the definitive guide for therapists seeking to work with goals in any of the psychological therapies.

How can therapists integrate theories and practices from across the psychological therapies? This book presents a framework for understanding distress and change that can unite different orientations, along with sociopolitical perspectives. Its starting point is that therapy aims to help clients move towards the things they most deeply want. It shows how the actualisation of these ‘directions’ leads to greater well-being, and how this can be brought about through the development of internal and external synergies. Using in-depth cases, the book provides detailed guidance on how this framework can be applied. After reading this book, you’ll feel better equipped to understand, and work with, your clients’ directions—tailoring the therapy to their unique wants.

Recent evidence has shown that the successful setting of goals brings about positive outcomes in psychological therapy. This book brings together theory, practice and research to give a definitive, practical, and critical guide to working with goals in the psychological therapies.

Motivation is key to substance use behavior change. Counselors can support clients' movement toward positive changes in their substance use by identifying and enhancing motivation that already exists. Motivational approaches are based on the principles of person-centered counseling. Counselors' use of empathy, not authority and power, is key to enhancing clients' motivation to change. Clients are experts in their own recovery from SUDs. Counselors should engage them in collaborative partnerships. Ambivalence about change is normal. Resistance to change is an expression of ambivalence about change, not a client trait or characteristic. Confrontational approaches increase client resistance and discord in the counseling relationship. Motivational approaches explore ambivalence in a nonjudgmental and compassionate way.

Numerous theories of motivation have been formulated over decades, but only in the last 25 years has the field of motivation research been dominated by powerful and more sophisticated theories organised around personal agency beliefs and goal-related processes. Goal setting is a motivational technique that is routinely recommended for enhancing task performance. If goals for performance are established that are specific and challenging, substantial increases in performance have been reported. The basic assumption of goal-setting research is that goals are immediate regulators of human action. If goal setting is viewed primarily as a motivational mechanism, it is relevant to ask how it affects performance. Similarly, are there ways to enhance the processes of goal setting and goal attainment, and are there strategies that can be implemented to prolong and maintain motivational levels until the desired outcome has been reached? First and foremost, can theories of goal setting be applied successfully in a psychological therapeutic setting? In psychotherapy, goal setting is usually used to give direction to a treatment plan, and emphasis is seldom placed on the goal-setting process as such. A goal-setting model, with the emphasis on strategies to enhance the goal-setting process, as a motivational mechanism, seems to have application relevancy in therapeutic settings. The application and incorporation of the goal-setting process into the therapeutic process represents a symbiotic relationship, where the two processes function on a parallel level, but are also intertwined. The present study endeavours to apply such a model, as a motivational technique, in the context of therapeutic intervention. The method of research is a qualitative investigation, using a case study strategy of inquiry.

Revised and updated to reflect the most recent developments in the field, the second edition of the Handbook of Motivational Counseling presents comprehensive coverage of the development and identification of motivational problems and the most effective treatment techniques. Equips clinicians with specific instructions for enhancing clients’ motivation for change by targeting their maladaptive motivational patterns Provides step-by-step instructions in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the motivational assessments, along with details of how to implement the counseling procedures Updated to reflect the most current research and effective treatment techniques, along with all-new chapters on motive-based approaches, motivational counseling with the dually diagnosed, cognitive and motivational retraining, meaning-centered counseling, and motivation in sport Showcases various basic motivational techniques and their adaptations, such as bibliotherapy, individual therapy, and group counseling, while demonstrating specialized uses of the techniques, such as in work settings and rehabilitation medicine