Personal goals of psychotherapy patients: The intensity and the "why" of goal-motivated behavior and their implications for the therapeutic process

The current study examined how the intensity and "why" of goal-motivated behavior were linked to the psychopathological state of psychotherapy outpatients and the session outcome. The level of goal motivation was assessed by measuring different expectancy-value aspects of idiographically generated personal goals; the "why" of motivation was measured by assessing the degree of self-determination of these goals. For 31 outpatients, goal characteristics and measures of psychopathology (i.e., questionnaires measuring symptoms and functional impairments) were assessed before therapy started; for 41 patients, these were assessed in the middle phase of therapy. Session outcome was assessed from the perspective of the therapists and the patients. Patients who were more optimistic about attaining valued goals and more intrinsically oriented showed lower levels of psychopathology and more positive session outcomes.