Happiness Isn’t Brain Surgery:
Multiple Dimensions of Motivation
Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Director, AllCEUs
Host: Counselor Toolbox & Happiness Isn’t Brain Surgery
Counseling continuing education can be earned for this presentation at https://allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/617/c/
Objectives
~ Define motivation
~ Identify the 5 principles of motivational enhancement
~ Review the concepts of motivation
~ Identify the types of motivation and ways to enhance them
Think About It…
~ Why do people change?
~ What is motivation?
~ Can individuals' motivation to change their behavior be modified?
~ Do clinicians have a role in enhancing clients' motivation for recovery?
What is Motivation
~ Motivation is a combination of desire, willingness and ability to do something.
~ Effectively enhancing motivation requires
~ Empathy and understanding
~ Identifying discrepancies between your desired situation and your current situation
~ Overcoming resistance to change (more rewarding behaviors or fears about change)
~ Supporting self-efficacy
What is Motivation cont…
~ Change involves:
~ Recognizing that something needs to be done
~ Increasing Motivation
~ Defining the problem (create crisis) and the end goal (identify the solution)
~ Identifying the benefits to doing what you need to reach your goal
~ Addressing the drawbacks to doing what you need to reach your goal
~ Creating a plan
~ Implementing that plan
~ Adjusting the plan as needed to ensure that working toward this goal is more rewarding than staying the same
What is motivation
~ Motivation is doing something to get a reward
~ Assumptions about the nature of motivation:
~ Motivation is a key to change
~ Motivation is multidimensional
~ Motivation is dynamic and fluctuating
~ When the going gets tough, motivation gets going
~ Motivation can be modified
~ Additional rewards can be added to make the new behavior more rewarding, even in the face of adversity
Motivation is a key to change
~ Think about the last time you were not motivated to do something?
~ Resistance is often…
~ A lack of motivation for the new behavior
~ More motivation for the old behavior
~ One of the first steps in developing motivation for change is to create a crisis
~ What are the problems with the current situation?
~ In what ways will the change be worth the effort?
Motivation is multidimensional
~ Emotional: Makes the person happy
~ Mental: Is the logical choice
~ Physical: Improves physical health, energy or reduces pain
~ Social: Improves relationship with self or others, elicits positive feedback from self and others
~ Environmental: Makes the environment more comfortable
Interventions
~ Create the Crisis
~ Examine the ways that the mood issues or addictive behaviors impact each area of wellness
~ Recognize that each negative impact is likely the result of energy shortages.
~ Identify individualized interventions
~ Identify ways to reduce stress and improve each area of wellness
~ Highlight motivations for change in as many areas as possible
~ Define and identify motivations to change in each dimension.
Motivation is Dynamic and Fluctuating
~ When the going gets tough, motivation gets going
~ Motivation is a combination of
~ Commitment (Willingness)
~ Control (Self-Efficacy)
~ Challenge
~ Too easy and too hard procrastination
Reasons Motivation Wanes
~ No (effective) Plan
~ Distractions
~ Drawbacks
~ Negative Motivation–Avoiding pain instead of achieving a reward
~ Extrinsic Motivation—Depending on the outside world
Motivation Can Be Modified
~ Enhance the benefits to change and the drawbacks to staying the same (Green=Go)
~ Minimize the benefits to staying the same and the drawbacks to change (Red = Stop/Remove)
Stages of Change
~ Precontemplation: “I’m okay”
~ Reluctant
~ Increase knowledge or awareness about the problem, and the personal impact it is having
~ Rebellious
~ Shift energy from fear of losing control to making lemonade
~ Resigned
~ Rekindle hope and optimism by highlighting successes, strengths and supports
Stages of Change
~ Contemplation: “It’s getting a little hot, but I’m okay”
~ Address ambivalence by tipping the decisional balance scales
~ Address anxiety and grief about change
~ Help clients visualize change
~ Preparation: “I’m just gonna stick my toe in and see how it feels.”
~ Increase self efficacy and hardiness (C3)
~ Begin learning about the issues
~ Identify motivations in each area and create small successes for components of the goal
Stages of Change
~ Preparation cont…
~ Clarify goals and strategies
~ Identify and address barriers to change
~ Highlight strengths and past successful strategies
~ Garner social support
~ Envision change and find motivating stories from others
Stages of Change
~ Action: “I’m tired of being hot.”
~ Identify ways to ensure motivation is maintained (Mindfulness)
~ Identify triggers, how they could cause relapse and how to deal with them
~ Maintenance:
~ Enjoy your successes. Step back and look how far you’ve come.
~ Stay mindful of continuing to “work your program.” Remaining vigilant for relapse triggers.
~ Make minor adjustments as needed.
Stages of Change
~ Relapse: Cold pool uncomfortable Jump out
~ Relapse means falling back into old ways of thinking and acting
~ Relapse is not a requirement for recovery
~ The earlier you catch a relapse the better
~ Relapse is an opportunity for learning about
~ What triggered the relapse
~ What things need to be addressed to keep recovery the most rewarding choice
Enhancing Motivation
~ The PIES Approach
~ Proximity: Provide intervention in the natural environment
~ Immediacy: Intervene as soon as the problem or loss of motivation is noticed
~ Expectancy: Expect the intervention to be successful and emphasize self-efficacy
~ Simplicity: Listen, show empathy, and demonstrate understanding.
Tips
~ The more types of motivation involved, the stronger the motivational force
~ Signs of decreasing motivation
~ Failure to attempt change
~ “Resistance”
~ Excuses and “yes, buts”
~ Lack of enthusiasm
~ Have client’s rate their motivation on each target behavior (not goal) each day.
~ Goal: Lose 15 pounds
~ Target behavior: Go to the gym
~ Target behavior: Drink 8 glasses of water
Motivation is Behavior Specific
~ Goals & Target Behavior
~ Goal: Improve happiness (address depression)
~ Target Behavior: Take medication
~ Target Behavior: Walk 30 minutes
~ Target Behavior: When I feel sad, write in my journal
~ Goal: Improve Stress Management (reduce anxiety)
~ Target Behavior 1: Get adequate sleep
~ Target Behavior 2: Delegate unnecessary stressors
~ Target Behavior 3: Reduce caffeine
Emotional Motivation
~ Things that make the person happy
~ Decisional Balance: Identify all the reasons
~ Increase these
~ The new behavior makes the person happy
~ The old behavior adds distress
~ Decrease these
~ The old behavior makes the person happy
~ The new behavior adds distress
~ Especially useful with people who have a “Feeling” temperament.
Mental Motivation
~ Things that the person sees as logical
~ Available information to support desired behavior
~ Decisional Balance: Identify all the reasons
~ Increase these
~ The new behavior is logical and helpful to achieving goals
~ The old behavior is unhelpful to achieving goals
~ Decrease these
~ The old behavior is logical and helpful to achieving goals
~ The new behavior is unhelpful to achieving goals
~ Especially useful with people who have a “Thinking” temperament.
Social Motivation
~ Things that increase the person’s self-esteem/self-acceptance
~ Things that increase social approval/acceptance
~ Decisional Balance: Identify all the reasons
~ Increase these
~ The new behavior increases self-acceptance/approval & other acceptance/approval
~ The old behavior is in opposition to their self-concept
~ The old behavior leads to rejection/isolation
~ Decrease these
~ The old behavior is socially rewarding
~ The new behavior does not provide self or other rewards (i.e. changing people, places, things)
Environmental Motivation
~ Identifying ways the new behavior will allow the person to improve their environment
~ People: Kindred spirits
~ Places: Vacation, better neighborhood, nice restaurant
~ Things: upgraded car, redecorating
~ Decisional balance:
~ In what ways will the new behavior improve the environment
~ In what was did the old behavior
~ Create a comfortable environment (What will you miss?)
~ Create an uncomfortable environment
Summary
~ Motivation is essential to behavior change
~ Motivation involves “choosing” the behavior that provides the greatest rewards for the effort
~ Increasing motivation means enhancing rewards and reducing punishments/drawbacks
~ Motivation is behavior, not goal, specific.
~ There are 5 phases of readiness or steps to change which clients will bounce between.
~ Waning motivation is one of the most overlooked components to relapse.
~ Relapse is not a necessary component of recovery