{"id":377,"date":"2014-07-29T09:53:36","date_gmt":"2014-07-29T09:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/?p=377"},"modified":"2024-04-08T10:59:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T16:59:50","slug":"boost-client-motivation-in-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/boost-client-motivation-in-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Boost Client Motivation In Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

How many psychotherapists does it take to change a lightbulb?<\/em><\/p>\n

Only one, but the lightbulb really has to want to change!<\/em><\/p>\n

Okay, that’s an old joke (and maybe not a very good one), but its roots are planted in a long-standing belief about psychotherapy and client motivation, which seems to be true.<\/p>\n

But it’s also true that a ‘cunning’ (I use the word advisedly), skilled therapist knows what motivates people to make the changes they want, can help generate<\/em>\u00a0that motivation, and\u00a0builds\u00a0it in clients who may not –<\/a> yet<\/em> – really want to change.<\/p>\n

Dancing with the stars<\/h3>\n

Years ago, I was called by the staff of a retirement home by the sea to help one of their residents, Margaret. She was in her eighties\u00a0and\u00a0had suffered a fall while using her Zimmer frame. Miraculously, the fall hadn’t injured her, so she was perfectly physically able to walk with her frame. But she wouldn’t. In spite of all the staff’s encouragement, she’d spent the intervening six weeks refusing to move about independently.<\/p>\n

Prefer to watch instead?<\/h3>\n