How Counseling Can Help You Reach Your Goals in the New Year

If you struggle to set goals, let alone reach them, you are definitely not alone. This constant cycle of trying to set beneficial life or health goals, but never quite reaching them, can ultimately lead to loss of motivation, low self-esteem, and depression.

Reaching goals is empowering and helps us feel that we are in charge of our life. When we don’t reach goals, we feel powerless and even hopeless that our lives can change for the better.

How Counseling Can Help

There is a formula that must be followed to set goals that are realistic and attainable. This formula is often used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help individuals set and reach goals that will help them change behaviors and better their lives.

Goal setting has actually been shown to be a useful tool for those suffering from depression according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE. The study found that individuals suffering from depression had more trouble setting goals and were far less likely to believe they could achieve them. The participants also tended to set avoidance goals rather than approach goals.

An avoidance goal is one you set to avoid a negative outcome. “I want to lose weight so I don’t develop type 2 diabetes.” An approach goal, on the other hand, is one that you set to ensure a positive outcome. “I want to lose weight to have more energy!”

The study shows that counseling can help people with depression set and achieve realistic and achievable goals as well as help them stay on track mentally in pursuit of that goal.

The goal-setting formula used in Cognitive Behavior Therapy looks like this:

  • Identify your goal.
  • Choose a starting point.
  • Identify the steps required to achieve the goal.
  • Take that first step and get started.

During your time in therapy I can help you with each one of these steps. From ensuring you select realistic goals that are approach goals, to helping you identify where you are in relation to your goal, breaking down the goal into smaller, actionable steps, and helping you take that very first step, I will be in your corner helping you every step of the way.

Make 2021 the year you reach those goals that will help you live your best life. If you’d like some help getting there, please get in touch with me. I’d be more than happy to discuss how I may be able to help.

 

SOURCES:

Leave a reply:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*