Abstract
The importance of client motivation for counseling and psychotherapy is just beginning to be explored. Yet it seems clear that motivation is an essential element, not only at the beginning of therapy but throughout. The present chapter reviews literature that explores a particular quality of motivation – autonomy – and argues that autonomous motivation for counseling is associated with better outcomes and is valued by therapists from widely divergent theoretical orientations. The chapter then explores a recently-proposed model of the relationship in psychotherapy (Wampold BE, Budge SL, Couns Psychol 40:601–623, 2012). The chapter concludes by proposing a revised model of the therapeutic relationship that specifically incorporates the concepts of autonomy support and autonomous motivation.
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Notes
- 1.
Technically speaking, because radical behaviorism does not acknowledge the relevance of psychological mediators, it is difficult to refer to this as a model of motivation, per se (see Ryan et al., 2011). To the extent that behavioral approaches rely on external reinforcers to shape behavior, it still seems meaningful however to refer to the client’s phenomenal experience in terms of the perceived locus of causality for their behavior.
- 2.
Dr. David R. Donnelly, behavior therapist and author, personal communication, April 18, 2012.
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Lynch, M.F. (2014). Motivation in the Client-Counselor Relationship. In: Weinstein, N. (eds) Human Motivation and Interpersonal Relationships. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8542-6_14
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