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‘But they aren't motivated …’ issues concerned with encouraging motivation for change in families
Author(s) -
Kingston Philip
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-6427
pISSN - 0163-4445
DOI - 10.1046/j.1467-6427.1984.00657.x
Subject(s) - ambivalence , psychology , experiential learning , context (archaeology) , theme (computing) , social psychology , family therapy , process (computing) , psychotherapist , pedagogy , computer science , paleontology , biology , operating system
This article is an attempt to provide some frameworks for understanding aspects of the context of families which support or constrain motivation for change. A theme of the entire paper is that ambivalence is normal and that it is therefore useful to regard families both as motivated to change and motivated to maintain stability. Part I focuses particularly upon family–referrer– therapist relationships and Part II upon family–therapist relationships. Part I begins with an exploration of the idea of motivation as a process and outlines the usefulness of the concept of ambivalence. Its main focus however is upon the importance of considering referrers when attempting to assess the motivation of family members for change. Part II considers the relationship between the family and the therapist and takes account of some important aspects of the contexts of both. It ends with a summary of some experiential exercises which enable one‘s personal understanding of motivation issues to develop.