Motivation and Autonomy in Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Behavior Change: A Look at Theory and Practice

Motivation has received increasing attention across counseling approaches, presumably because clients’ motivation is key for treatment effectiveness. The authors define motivation using a self-determination theory taxonomy that conceptualizes motivation along a relative-autonomy continuum. The authors apply the taxonomy in discussing how various counseling approaches address client motivation and autonomy, both in theory and in practice. The authors also consider the motivational implications of nonspecific factors such as therapeutic alliance. Across approaches, the authors find convergence around the idea that clients’ autonomy should be respected and collaborative engagement fostered. The authors also address ethical considerations reg arding respect for autonomy and relations of autonomy to multicultural counseling. The authors conclude that supporting autonomy is differentially grounded in theories and differentially implemented in approaches. Specifically, outcome-oriented treatments tend to consider motivation a prerequisite for treatment and emphasize transparency and up-front consent; process-oriented treatments tend to consider motivation a treatment aspect and give less emphasis to transparency and consent. 1University of Rochester, NY, USA 2Ghent University, Belgium Corresponding Author: Richard M. Ryan, PhD, Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, 355 Meliora Hall, Rochester, NY 14627-0266, USA; phone: 585-275-8708 Email: [email protected] The Division 17 logo denotes that this article is designated as a CEC article. To purchase the CE Quiz, please visit http://per-ce.net/ce/tcp.php. 194 The Counseling Psychologist 39(2)