Goal Directed Therapy
Therapist Christopher Morgan-Locke explains the importance of motivation and defining clear goals and explains how Goal Directed Therapy can help improve your work and home life.
Have you ever had a time in your life when nothing seems to go right? You start projects at home or at work and never finish them. Or, perhaps you put a great deal of effort into them at the beginning but then run out of steam and end up bodging the last bit just to get it finished. Does your boss or partner seem to be endlessly chasing you to get things done and you blame everyone else for the problems in your life?
If this sounds familiar you will know being told to "pull yourself together" or "snap out of it" may not be particularly helpful and on many occasions actually can make things worse. If this is you, or perhaps someone you know, be warned as this can lead to a sort of a self-perpetuating decline and a plummeting of your self-esteem. Apathy, anger or even depression can develop, and in extreme cases, heavy drinking, violent behaviour and relationships problems. Unfortunately for those who find themselves in this position, without a clear goal and lacking in motivation, often they are the last people to identify it in themselves and lack the motivation to do anything about it or get professional help.
If as a therapist I was only allowed to asked a client one question, it would be "What do you want" and not "What is you problem." Clearly defining a goal and actively taking steps to realise it is often enough to resolve many psychological and relationship problems and many have been know to change their whole lives for the better just by addressing this one thing.
Most of us are aware of mission statements at work and to many they seem a bit silly as they are usually rather obvious, however they do serve an important purpose in reminding staff of their core purpose which many forget or have wrong. Police forces now have mission statements, as research showed that many officers felt arresting criminals was their goal when in fact their main aim should be to maintain the peace and serve the community. Arresting criminals is an important part of policing but it only happens as a consequence of crime being committed. If police officers goals were to prevent crime then the need to arrest criminals would be less important.
It you lack a clear goal and find it hard to maintain motivation Goal Directed Therapy could be the answer. This treatment has three active components: defining a realistic outcome, identifying the consistent activities you must never neglect to achieve the desired outcome and what immediate daily tasks must not be postponed in order to achieve your outcome. This may all sound rather simple and straight forward but if you get any one component wrong or fail to implement any part the whole process will not be effective.
For example it is pointless if you create an unrealistic outcome such as "I want to win the lottery next week" as these sorts of outcome is not in your control so there is nothing you could realistically do that will make it happen. Buying more lottery tickets might increase you chances of winning but would not guarantee it. Also avoid outcomes such as "I want to be successful" or "I want to be happy" as they are non-specific. With such outcomes you would need to define successful and happy otherwise how will you know when you have achieved them. So working out a Realistic Outcome that can be achieved primarily by your own activity is the first step.
Consistent Activity, the second component, refers to the hard work and commitment needed to realise your outcome and without them it is unlikely you will achieve your desired outcome. Immediate Tasks is the third component which, refers to all the immediate things you should be doing today which will lead to your desired outcome. Putting things off until tomorrow is a sure way of failing. Many people have a clear goal and have the ability for hard work but never get started. You need to realise all three components to achieve your desired goals.
I have worked for many years as a therapist and the one factor that comes up again and again is where a lack of clear goals and motivation negatively affects the outcome of the therapy. So many clients do not actually know what they want in life and even if they do just knowing it is not enough.
So by helping people define clear goals and giving them the skills and motivation to achieve them is one of the most valuable things I can do. Spending a few hours with a specially trained therapist can be enough for most people to turn around their lives very quickly.
If you need direction in your life you can have a one-to-one Goal Directed Therapy sessions where a specialist will help you define clear goals and then through visualisations or clinical hypnosis will get them clearly in your mind. This can often be done in just one or two sessions costing between £75 and £100 each.
Therapist Christopher Morgan-Locke has worked in this area for many years and is based at The Peel Clinic, London (Clapham Common) and also works in Surrey and Hampshire. He has clients who come to see him for treatment from all over the world including the USA and throughout Europe. Go to www.thepeelclinic.org.uk or email Christopher@thepeelclinic.org.uk
