Goal Setting: Measurable Motivation

As the year comes to a close, you may be looking to the new year to create resolution or revisit goals in the hope of change. It’s a time to explore goals that are measurable and attainable; it’s a time to create small steps to build self-confidence to remain motivated and hopeful. Perhaps you say “I want to join a gym to help my depression.” You want to work out every day to help your mood but aren’t currently working out on a consistent basis, and not at a gym. So, you find it important to explore your motivation as well as the perceived strengths and challenges of reaching your goal. You learn that smaller steps can support success and agree to working on short-term goals to build confidence and to move towards your long-term goal of working out daily.

Monitoring Motivation

Why is it important to explore motivation around a goal? Research tells us goals around fitness and gym attendance peak in January and dramatically decline by February and March every year. Additional research tells us that we must do something consistently for a minimum of 30 days for it to become a habit. What this conveys to us as human beings is that we need to see results or progress to continue to work hard at a goal. You may normalize this for yourself in understanding the pattern of motivation. You may also explore research on the Stages of Change from Motivational Interviewing as a visual to support yourself in identifying strengths and barriers to change. By being open and honest with yourself, you will be setting yourself up for success. Ask yourself the following questions to fully discover where your motivation lies (and note the Stages of Change in parentheses):

• What do you want to change? (Precontemplation to Contemplation)

• What makes that a problem for you? (Contemplation)

• Is it a big enough problem to want something different? (Contemplation)

• How would you achieve the desired change? (Preparation)

• What do you need to support change? (Preparation)

• What would help you to begin? (Action)

• How will you know when you are ready for change? (Action)

• What would help you keep going? (Maintenance)

• Who/What would hold you accountable?

• What would happen if you don’t succeed?

By exploring these questions, you can identify any current strengths or barriers to succeeding and further explore what is needed to progress through the Stages of Change.

Make it Measurable

It isn’t uncommon for someone to identify a goal but not know how to attain it, thus remaining in the stage of contemplation. It becomes our responsibility to break down a long-term or larger goal into measurable, smaller pieces for it to feel worthwhile. Here are some examples of how to make it measurable when identifying a larger, more abstract goal:

Smaller, more measurable efforts can support short-term goals blending into long-term goals over time. By identifying and writing down goals that are measurable, can be reviewed regularly, and can be celebrated when attained, the effort it takes to achieve these goals can feel validated and encourage motivation for the long-term work as well.

Accountability Buddy 

Motivation can be internal such as, “I can do this” or external, “she said I can do this.” Identifying a trusted support as an Accountability Buddy can help you achieve your goals. Accountability Buddies are selected as a support person who is aware of your goals and holds you accountable by remaining in regular contact with you on your progress. They may meet with you weekly, monthly or on whatever schedule can help you remain focused and present on the goals you are working towards. Sometimes Accountability Buddies have a similar goal and may participate alongside you, such as going to the gym with you three times per week. Not having to work towards a goal alone can serve as an incentive in absorbing someone else’s positivity when you begin to question your own motivation. You may struggle to recognize the small but important shifts in progress and begin to question why you are working so hard for minimal results. Perhaps they help you recognize the smaller changes that have taken place when you feel the seeds of doubt are planted, thus preventing you from giving up on a goal that is supporting healthy change. By identifying an Accountability Buddy that is supportive throughout the process, you can experience motivation and recognize goal progression, allowing the ongoing growth and change you desire.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barack Obama.

Therapeutic Goal Setting: Measurable Motivation

As December comes to a close, your clients could be looking to the new year to create resolution or revisit their treatment goals in the hope of change. It’s a time to explore goals that are measurable and attainable; it’s a time to create small steps to build self-confidence so they remain motivated and hopeful. Perhaps your client comes into your office saying “I want to join a gym to help my depression.” You meet their disclosure with compassion and curiosity and ask them to share more. You learn they want to work out every day to help their mood but aren’t currently working out on a consistent basis, and not ever at a gym. So you find it important to explore with them their motivation as well as the perceived strengths and challenges of reaching their goal. Your client learns that smaller steps can support success and agrees to working on short-term goals to build confidence and to move towards their long-term goal of working out daily.

Monitoring Motivation

Why is it important to explore motivation around a goal? Research tells us goals around fitness and gym attendance peak in January and dramatically decline by February and March every year. Additional research tells us that we must do something consistently for a minimum of 30 days for it to become a habit. What this conveys to us as human beings is that we need to see results or progress to continue to work hard at a goal. You may normalize this for your client. You may also provide psychoeducation on the Stages of Change from Motivational Interviewing as a visual to support your client in identifying strengths and barriers to change. In meeting your client where they are at, consider the questions below to explore motivation with your client:

• What do you want to change? (Precontemplation to Contemplation)
• What makes that a problem for you? (Contemplation)
• Is it a big enough problem to want something different? (Contemplation)
• How would you achieve the desired change? (Preparation)
• What do you need to support change? (Preparation)
• What would help you to begin? (Action)
• How will you know when you are ready for change? (Action)
• What would help you keep going? (Maintenance)
• Who/What would hold you accountable?
• What would happen if you don’t succeed?

By engaging your client in exploring these questions, they can identify any current strengths or barriers to succeeding and further explore what is needed to progress through the stages of change.

Make it Measurable

It isn’t uncommon for a client to identify a goal but not know how to attain it, thus remaining in the stage of contemplation. It becomes our responsibility as their support to break down a long-term or larger goal into measurable, smaller pieces. Here are some examples of how to make it measurable when a client identifies a larger, more abstract goal in therapy:

Our therapeutic interventions can support short-term goals blending into long-term goals over time. By identifying and writing treatment goals that are measurable and can be reviewed with your client regularly, the effort it takes to achieve these goals can feel validated and attainable for your client.

Supporting Strengths

Validation can be a strong motivator. Helping clients slow down to identify their strengths throughout the process can be motivating in and of itself. It isn’t surprising that clients can find themselves stuck in the past, such as awareness of how they used to be able to achieve goals with no effort and frustration that they cannot find that same success today. Or perhaps they are so future focused they aren’t able to recognize the smaller changes that have taken place. One of the most rewarding elements of therapy can be reviewing goals and progress towards those goals. Your clients may be unable to recognize the small but important shifts in their functioning and therefore it can be impactful to help them remember where they started in this process and how their hard work is supporting healthy change. By identifying their strengths and supporting them throughout the process, clients can experience motivation and recognize goal progression, allowing the ongoing growth and change they seek.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barack Obama.

Mandated Clients: Motivating Change

“I don’t want to be here. I’m not going to say anything. I don’t know. Why should I talk to you?” A court mandated client sits in your office, required to participate in therapy as part of their treatment plan. You feel on edge, frustrated at their lack of engagement, maybe even resentful of the mental and emotional blocks that prevent rapport and valuable change. For those of us who might feel this gap between clients and ourselves, we know it becomes that much more difficult to connect, to hold space, and to offer unconditional positive regard, the building blocks that support the most change in fostering a positive therapeutic relationship. Considering the client’s circumstance, trauma experience, strengths, and resiliency can all serve as possible gateways for change and connection. With these aspects in mind, you may just bridge the gap or begin to gently chip away at the wall of resistance in support of a client’s healing journey.

Building Perspective

The client may come from a different background or hold different values, however, they still feel pain and suffering just as we can. Remember that crisis such as homelessness, financial instability and a lack support could prevent progress due to basic needs requiring attention first. Having realistic expectations of what a client can accomplish both short and long term can set them up for success in your work together. If their trauma revolves around trust or mistrust, being aware of how therapy and/or relationships have helped or hindered them in the past can put their current resistance in perspective. A few questions that you may find helpful at the first meeting to ask a client around this concept include:

• Have you had therapy before? What was it like?
• What did you like about therapy before? Dislike about it?
• How would I know if I’ve offended you in some way? How would your body, face, or voice change to let me know what something isn’t quite right?
• How could I help you feel comfortable enough to tell me if I’ve done or said something that prevents you from talking with me freely?

All of these questions encourage your client to have a voice in the therapeutic process and can demonstrate their level of self-awareness as well as self-advocacy in the room.

Practicing Presence

Understanding a mandated client’s need for trust as well as acknowledging the power of consistency and ‘showing up’ can all have significant impact on the experience of therapy for a mandated client. For many clients, having someone invested in them and honoring their needs for safety is noticeably different from the relationships they’ve experienced in the past. Even when you feel that you aren’t making significant progress on a treatment plan, holding space for a client and developing a healthy therapeutic relationship can be more significant than we realize. Similar to group therapy where we witness the group as a social microcosm or opportunity to explore interpersonal skills repeated in varying interactions outside of group, the therapeutic relationship can help us identify relationship strengths and challenges that are seen in other spheres of the client’s life for possible change and improvement. Remaining present with a client in their experience through supportive feedback, empathy, and empowerment can encourage the desired change in ways that feel safe.

Check Yourself

Supporting safety by asking questions of client regarding their experience in your office can be very helpful, however being aware of your own assumptions, biases, and language can be equally important in working with mandated clients. Could your language choice be isolating rather than empowering? Are you approaching their needs from a strengths perspective, understanding that their behavior could reflect survival, a pattern of attempting to meet their own needs in any way possible?

Consider the following as possible gauges for yourself:

• Reading their entire case file and developing a plan based on that information versus speaking with them about what they want to work on.
• Seeing their choices as immoral behavior that requires fixing versus reframing behavior through the lens of survival and in response to trauma
• Using words that are possibly offensive to your client such as criminal, paranoid, or bipolar versus language reflecting their personal experience with legal charges, bipolar disorder, or caution with others in response to safety needs.
• Noticing your ability to interact and identify strengths of a client to maintain unconditional positive regard

Increasing By-in

Once you’ve explored your own presentation and values in the room with a mandated client to allow them to feel safe, you will continue to gauge what will support them in their process. For many clients, acknowledging they aren’t in therapy of their own free will can be the start of a conversation of what they’d like to get out of sessions in having to be in attendance. Asking questions like, “What would make this worth your while? What would you like to get out of this in having to be here?” can be supportive in normalizing their resistance and empowering them to be part of the process. If you receive a response of, “I don’t know,” don’t lose heart. Many clients need to witness your commitment to their process by being patient and present with them each week. Some clients will even test your limits to see if you can respond to them in ways that feel safe enough to encourage them to open up and trust. In considering all of the tips above, you will feel more prepared to meet resistance and offer an environment that feel supportive for clients to engage and grow.