What motivates people to change is a relentless and innate desire for self-improvement. Rarely ever
has history seen a man or society kick back, relax, and say “Well that about does it. Not much else to
do here!” Within every person is the potential to achieve greatness in some form; be it athletically,
mentally, spiritually. This inherent potential demands that people continue to explore and change both
their environments and themselves throughout their life’s course. Never should a man be idle for too
long. After acknowledging the changes a man has already made to his environment, the pursuit of
self-improvement will once again stir within his soul and call him to action. This internal desire, this
pursuit of challenge and perfection, does not prohibit man from being happy with his status and
achievements. On the contrary, the device serves more to allow the man to constantly strive for
greater change, newer innovation. What motivates people to change is the ongoing need to redefine
people’s lives and identities –to elevate them to higher levels of eminence and sucess.
A good example of this can be seen in clinical psychology. When patients seek therapy for difficulties
that have encumbered their daily functioning, they most often arrive for treatment voluntarily and
willingly- they consciously accept the necessity of therapy and so participate without any duress.
During the course of clinical therapy, the patient’s concerns, anxieties, ideas, emotions, and fears are
brought to light. However, the clinician does not try to alter the beliefs, feeling, and sentiments of his
client; rather, he simply illuminates them in order to provide the patient with an accurate view of
himself. The process, of raising concerns and ideas to the surface of conscious awareness, is known as
clarification. Modern psychology is a far throw from the psychoanalysis of Freud’s time, in which
psychologists attempted to “interpret” pre-and unconscious feelings that had been repressed by the
patient. Because clinicians only clarify, and not dissect, alter, or interpret a client’s inner desires and
emotions, the client himself is responsible for instituting change. If he is to change, he must dictate the
course of therapy, and make the conscious choice to improve himself. This widely used approach is
called “client centered therapy.” If the client’s ennui or ill feelings are due to situational factors or
internal designs (as oppose to biological changes that would qualify for a diagnosis of psychopathology
(mental disorder)), he must change them on his own accord to precipitate change within himself. The
therapist will not “cure” him in any way. He alone must answer the call within himself to refine and
redefine his identity and place in society. This need, of self-improvement, also initially brought him to
the therapist. He was able to recognize the disorder of his environment and acknowledge his own
negative feelings. This in turn brought him to therapy, where he was guided through a process of
introspection that ultimately enabled him to improve himself, assuage his anxieties, and rightfully
continue on his lifelong pursuit of even greater achievements.
has history seen a man or society kick back, relax, and say “Well that about does it. Not much else to
do here!” Within every person is the potential to achieve greatness in some form; be it athletically,
mentally, spiritually. This inherent potential demands that people continue to explore and change both
their environments and themselves throughout their life’s course. Never should a man be idle for too
long. After acknowledging the changes a man has already made to his environment, the pursuit of
self-improvement will once again stir within his soul and call him to action. This internal desire, this
pursuit of challenge and perfection, does not prohibit man from being happy with his status and
achievements. On the contrary, the device serves more to allow the man to constantly strive for
greater change, newer innovation. What motivates people to change is the ongoing need to redefine
people’s lives and identities –to elevate them to higher levels of eminence and sucess.
A good example of this can be seen in clinical psychology. When patients seek therapy for difficulties
that have encumbered their daily functioning, they most often arrive for treatment voluntarily and
willingly- they consciously accept the necessity of therapy and so participate without any duress.
During the course of clinical therapy, the patient’s concerns, anxieties, ideas, emotions, and fears are
brought to light. However, the clinician does not try to alter the beliefs, feeling, and sentiments of his
client; rather, he simply illuminates them in order to provide the patient with an accurate view of
himself. The process, of raising concerns and ideas to the surface of conscious awareness, is known as
clarification. Modern psychology is a far throw from the psychoanalysis of Freud’s time, in which
psychologists attempted to “interpret” pre-and unconscious feelings that had been repressed by the
patient. Because clinicians only clarify, and not dissect, alter, or interpret a client’s inner desires and
emotions, the client himself is responsible for instituting change. If he is to change, he must dictate the
course of therapy, and make the conscious choice to improve himself. This widely used approach is
called “client centered therapy.” If the client’s ennui or ill feelings are due to situational factors or
internal designs (as oppose to biological changes that would qualify for a diagnosis of psychopathology
(mental disorder)), he must change them on his own accord to precipitate change within himself. The
therapist will not “cure” him in any way. He alone must answer the call within himself to refine and
redefine his identity and place in society. This need, of self-improvement, also initially brought him to
the therapist. He was able to recognize the disorder of his environment and acknowledge his own
negative feelings. This in turn brought him to therapy, where he was guided through a process of
introspection that ultimately enabled him to improve himself, assuage his anxieties, and rightfully
continue on his lifelong pursuit of even greater achievements.
