Motivational Work is all-important in the rehabilitation of an unmotivated client. This view on motivational methods is contrary to the traditional paradigm of how to motivate.
Consequently, it means that Motivational Work is more crucial than the treatment the motivated client participates in later on. Firstly, it starts with the winding road of Motivational Work and then continues with the travel of the motivated client on the highway.
THE TRADITIONAL PARADIGM
Implicitly in the example in my last blog (no. 81), is described this traditional model which relates to how to motivate. By and large, the paradigm is the same irrespectively of the specific method of motivation.
Important to realize, it consists of several parts. These components can shift in different motivational situations. However, the underlying paradigm is always the same.
One of the aspects in the traditional standard is that the treatment of the motivated client is the essential part. Except that, as mentioned in the first paragraph, this view is contrary to the ideology of Motivational Work. Instead, Motivational Work is all-important. Let us scrutinize the notion of the supplement.
A Supplement
Firstly, the client is motivated to take part in an activity, which is considered to be the essential part. In the example, in blog 81, it is the participation in psychotherapy. The motivational method is less advanced and potent than the primary treatment.
Another good example is when the social worker tries to motivate the drug addict to go into treatment. The motivational paradigm says that the necessary treatment will be done at the treatment institution. The motivational effort from the social worker is only a preparation.
The view of motivational methods as a supplement is connected to the discussions in my earlier blogs about the psychotherapeutic paradigm.
Thus, psychotherapy is seen as the treatment which can cure the client. The only problem is to induce him to come to the psychotherapist. To motivate the client is perceived as a less advanced activity as psychotherapy and has a lower prestige in society.
THE MOTIVATIONAL WORK
Conversely, Motivational Work has the opposite view of the significance of the motivational effort. To motivate is the essential part of a treatment. Motivational Work is all-important. Through this activity, there is a profound change in the client’s inner life. He has been strengthened in his life force and will not continue with a destructive life.
When the motivational worker meets his client for the first time, the latter is in the cold water on his way to drown. After his life energy has been enhanced through Motivational Work, he is saved out of the water and is standing on the beach. Now, he has the ability to take an active part in his treatment and can profit by many methods.
A Case
A female social worker tried to motivate a female drug addict to go into treatment. The client said she would accept the treatment if she could be admitted to a rehabilitation home. After three months, the social worker found a rehabilitation home that welcomed her client. Regrettably, the client only stayed at the institution a week and then disappeared.
The social worker took up the case in a supervisors’ group. There she found out that the client was far from being helped with her life and her addiction. It inspired her to seek her out and continue her motivational work. The social worker did not send her to a new rehabilitation home.
After a year, the client was free from her addiction, had a job and her apartment. She had been strengthened in her life energy, among other things, a solid self-confidence and a deeper contact with herself and others.
The Crucial Factor
Clearly, the case shows that the motivational work of the social worker was the crucial factor in the rehabilitation of the client. There was no need for rehabilitation home. Motivational Work is all-important.
According to Motivational Work, the decisive aspect is the relationship between the motivational worker and the client. The social worker’s commitment was the essential ingredients in the rehabilitation process. Whereas, the rehabilitation home demanded a level of motivation that the client did not have.
Once again, the motivational paradox appears. Through the requirements of the institution, those clients with the greatest need for treatment were excluded. Instead, it became the mission of the social worker to help. On the other hand, the social worker had the best qualifications via her relationship with the client.
Summary
To sum up, Motivational Work is all-important. When the client is motivated, he is already to a significant part rehabilitated. In other words, the rest of the journey is more like traveling on a highway. To begin with, Motivational Work is the challenging winding road in the mountains.
Henceforth, my next blog will discuss the second aspect of the traditional paradigm: the quick fix.
