The Art and Science of Motivation

Book excerpt: The authors' groundbreaking approach to working with children and their parents or caregivers places motivation at the heart of all encounters and therapeutic activities. The book provides readers with both a theoretical and practical understanding of methods for engaging and working successfully with children with a range of difficulties, from physical disabilities to learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral difficulties. The authors present an innovative new paradigm - the model of Synthesis of Child, Occupational Performance and Environment - In Time (SCOPE-IT) - for working with these groups to enhance motivation and engagement and to achieve the best possible treatment outcomes. The challenges professionals may face are clearly addressed, and the contributors also explain how the therapist's use of language may influence motivation. Engaging clinical examples bring to life the SCOPE-IT model, and the book closes with an extended case study of the therapeutic journey of one individual, his parents and a therapist, placing the key concepts from the preceding chapters in a richly human and personal context. Combining research-based theory with a wealth of tools and strategies for practice, this book will be inspiring reading for all those working therapeutically with children and young people, including occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, counselors, psychologists and psychotherapists.