Psych Masters
ANSWERS
Setting goals is essential for those who want to improve their lives. Setting goals allows you to hold yourself accountable for the things you want to accomplish.
Setting goals is especially important for those in counseling and therapy. Failure is frequently caused by a need to properly understand how to set goals.
There are numerous effective goal-setting techniques, and this article will review many of them.
Setting goals can help you improve your mental health, overcome depression, and aid in rehabilitation.
When it comes to overcoming challenges and achieving things in life, goal setting is a road map for you to follow.
What is Counseling Goal Setting?
It is your responsibility as a counselor to set expectations with your clients. Many people have different ideas about what a counselor can do and what they can expect from the counseling experience.
Although counseling theorists sometimes have differing views on what constitutes an appropriate counseling goal, there are some common threads regarding standard goals you should include in your practice.
Counseling’s five most common goals are as follows:
Promoting behavioral change
Assisting the client in improving their ability to establish and maintain relationships.
Increasing the client’s effectiveness and ability to cope.
Assisting in the decision-making process and facilitating client potential.
Development.
These objectives serve as guidelines for assisting your clients in making positive changes. Improving your client’s coping ability is an important part of counseling.
Coping skills and patterns are formed throughout our lives, but they may only sometimes be effective.
Goals are important for everyone, whether or not they are in therapy. Personal goals, professional goals, a goal to replace a bad habit, or simply a goal for success all help you navigate life.
According to research, therapy is far more effective when there is a clear plan for what you hope to achieve or accomplish. Setting goals can also help the therapist better understand the client’s progress as therapy progresses.
It’s also important to set the stage before beginning any counseling or treatment plan by asking your clients:
What they hope to gain from the therapeutic or counseling process.
What they believe is preventing them from accomplishing this.
What are their expectations?
What motivates them to make these changes.
Much of this can be accomplished during the interview process, during which goals can be discussed and prioritized in terms of desired time frames. Goals are intended to motivate and challenge the client, so your client must be open and honest about their expectations.
Setting unrealistically low goals, overcoming the fear of failure, and constantly comparing goals to the goals of others are a few things to watch out for when creating and setting goals with your client. Helping your client’s step outside their comfort zones is essential to the therapeutic process. It is your job as a counselor to assist your clients in stretching, growing, and moving beyond resistance.
How Goal-Setting Functions in Therapy
Setting goals is beneficial in many aspects of life. Goals can help you deal with emotional and behavioral issues, reconnect with old friends, look for a new job, or save for a vacation.
When it comes to goal setting, there is a general formula that can be followed, according to Justin Arocho, Ph.D. The goal-setting approach outlined below is used in CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) but can also be viewed as a standard approach or starting point.
Goal Setting Methodology:
Determine your goal.
Select a starting point.
Determine the steps necessary to achieve the goal.
Take the first step and begin.
The first step may appear simple, but it is frequently difficult. It may be more difficult than you think to assist your clients in fine-tuning and crystallizing their goals. Begin by asking them what their ultimate goal is.
The next step is to determine a starting point. A good place to start is by assisting your clients in confronting and comprehending their current situation regarding this goal. It is critical that they are also honest with themselves, examining where things currently stand.
When faced with big goals, breaking them down into small steps is a wise choice. Breaking goals into manageable chunks or steps is essential because it keeps the client from becoming overwhelmed.
Remember to keep the steps small and in some logical order. You can also talk about potential roadblocks as you discuss this.
While no one can predict every obstacle that may arise, discussing strategies for overcoming them will be beneficial.
Taking that first small step is a significant accomplishment for anyone. Your job as a counselor is to motivate the client to do so.
The Effects of Goal Setting on Mental Health
According to Rose and Smith (2018), collaborative goal-setting effectively provides mental health support. The study, which collected data over 14 months, discovered that goal achievement and the strength of a working alliance positively affected personal recovery for those in the study.
Psych Masters
QUESTION
Psych Masters
Describe your interest in the psychiatric program. How do you see the Masters program helping you meet career goals?