Do you have to be 100% motivated?

Jan 27, 2014 at 01:22 PM

For therapy to work do you think you have to be 100% motivated? Is it even possible to be constantly 100% motivated?

Wandering Pony · Jan 27, 2014 at 01:47 PM

I think you have to have a true inner desire for change for it to work. But that doesn't mean you will always be totally motivated. I don't think that is even possible. I view it like when I used to run marathons. I had a goal in mind and I was serious about achieving that goal and doing the training required to do so. But there were still Saturdays when I woke up and said " why the heck am I spending my Saturday running 28 miles??????" And absolutely lacked any desire whatsoever. Bc I had the goal in mind I'd do the work even though I didn't want to.

I view therapy the same way. I have goals and am serious about achieving them. But I still have days where I don't want to go to therapy, examine my feelings, try to change my behavior s or thought patterns etc etc. I try anyway even if I feel like quitting, even if my try is half hearted and lame.

I go on the saying ( I think it's from Aristotle)" excellence is not a single act, but a habit. We become what we do every day"

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Wandering Pony · Jan 27, 2014 at 01:48 PM

So no I think you can't be and don't need to be 100% motivated every day. You just need to keep trying

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UnderRugSwept · Jan 27, 2014 at 09:22 PM

Not at all! I think sometimes showing up is enough! (Like I am doing tomorrow, even though I really, really am not motivated at all!)
I do think if you aren't feeling motivated it might be helpful to tell your T how you are feeling and discuss the reasons why.

growlycat · Jan 27, 2014 at 09:38 PM

A good T will help motivate you when you lose it. You need an underpinning of really wanting to change and do the work, but I don't think 100% is even possible.

Mactastic · Jan 27, 2014 at 09:55 PM

You definitely have to want to heal. There's no way I could keep putting myself through the process if I didn't believe in it and ache to change

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Petra5ed · Jan 27, 2014 at 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lycanthrope

For therapy to work do you think you have to be 100% motivated? Is it even possible to be constantly 100% motivated?

Cool question. I'm going to go with no, probably not possible to be 100% motivated. Even if you could be I'm not sure what it would look like, for example if you were 100% motivated do you just keep pushing through all your painful stuff in session and sit with the pain the whole time then go home and journal, do yoga, eat a paleo diet, and attend self help groups all week all while depressed? Haha, therapy is so weird, I don't know if it's something you can really do hardcore. Seems like part of the human condition is constant change and I think that happens with everything all the time on some level, so I also think people waver a bit in how they feel about everything. Most people at least will have moments where they don't feel very motivated to have a difficult conversation with a therapist. That being said you have to be pretty damn motivated, therapy costs a lot of money, is not easy, takes a time commitment and an emotional commitment.

Jan 28, 2014 at 07:33 AM

I think committed more than motivated. When working through deep issues we can lose our motivation. But if committed we trudge through the mud.

Perna · Jan 28, 2014 at 08:28 AM

I went to school for 16 years, not committed or motivated and got average grades (even though I am one of the more than 50% of people who are "above average" in intelligence :-) but that limited my life choices afterwards and made things harder for me that they could have been. Commitment is just a habit but the opposite is too so unless you practice one, you are practicing the other and whichever you practice becomes easier while the other becomes harder and, often, impossible to reverse if you wait too long.

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Anonymous200125 Guest Posts: n/a	Jan 27, 2014 at 01:22 PM #1 For therapy to work do you think you have to be 100% motivated? Is it even possible to be constantly 100% motivated?
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Wandering Pony Member Member Since Jan 2014 Posts: 38 10	Jan 27, 2014 at 01:48 PM #3 So no I think you can't be and don't need to be 100% motivated every day. You just need to keep trying Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk __________________ Using Tapatalk
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growlycat Therapy Ninja Member Since Jan 2007 Location: How did I get here? Posts: 10,308 17 16.1k hugs given	Jan 27, 2014 at 09:38 PM #5 A good T will help motivate you when you lose it. You need an underpinning of really wanting to change and do the work, but I don't think 100% is even possible.
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Mactastic Veteran Member Member Since Nov 2013 Location: USA Posts: 673 10 62 hugs given	Jan 27, 2014 at 09:55 PM #6 You definitely have to want to heal. There's no way I could keep putting myself through the process if I didn't believe in it and ache to change Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk __________________ As wolves love lambs so lovers love their loves - Socrates
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Anonymous37903 Guest Posts: n/a	Jan 28, 2014 at 07:33 AM #8 I think committed more than motivated. When working through deep issues we can lose our motivation. But if committed we trudge through the mud.
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