Goal Setting and Motivation in Therapy ─ Engaging Children and Parents

For professionals working with children who face physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and emotional and behavioral problems, developing a motivational long term plan for therapy can be challenging. In this book, editors Anne A Poulsen, Jenny Ziviani and Monica Cuskelly bring together a diverse group of experts to explore how the use of goals can improve the therapeutic process by providing motivation and achievable checkpoints. The book begins by considering the science of self-determination theory and strategies to encourage need satisfaction during the goal setting process. In the following sections, the authors consider challenges to implementing goals and goal setting instruments. Figures and charts are included throughout to summarize main ideas. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Anne A. Poulsen is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on motivation, self-concept and life satisfaction. Jenny Ziviani is Professor of Children's Allied Health Research, a joint appointment between the University of Queensland, and Children's Health Queensland. She is an occupational therapist and allied health researcher with a focus on child health, family centred practice and motivational aspects of interventions. Monica Cuskelly is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Queensland. She is a psychologist with particular interest in education and developmental psychology. Her research focuses on cognitive development, mastery, motivation and self-regulation in vulnerable populations, particularly individuals with learning disabilities, and on the experiences of families with a child with a disability.