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Writer's pictureKevin Kenealy

How to Set Goals in Counseling



You’re in your first counseling session. You enter the therapist’s office, sit on the couch, and – what do you do?


You want to improve your life and be emotionally strong. But where do you begin when the challenges seem overwhelming?


The solution is goal setting. Goal statements set the tone for how your therapy will work. Read on to discover how to make reasonable counseling goals and why setting them is essential to growth and healing.


Why You Need Goals in Counseling.

Let’s begin by examining what goal setting is about in the first place: Goal setting plays a critical role in an excellent counseling session:


The goals steer you when you’re lost

Now, suppose you took a drive without choosing a destination. You’d be lost, frustrated, and quickly running out of gas.


If the aims are not precise, counseling can also seem sappy. It doesn’t feel like anything’s happening, and your mind isn’t better for it, either. Progress stagnates. The anxiety sets in.


A clear-cut goal set helps you bring much-needed clarity to your work. Objectives enable you to say, "This is where I want to be."


Now, your counseling has a goal and an urgency. There’s going to be momentum. You’re there, the therapist’s there, and every session builds on your journey.


Goals tell you what you need most

If you are struggling mentally, you might be overwhelmed by the number of issues you have. Prioritizing asks you, "Where am I most in need now?"


For instance, you want to strengthen your self-confidence, get less nervous in public, and grieve an estranged partner. By establishing the aim of achieving self-esteem, counseling receives the first opportunity to help them in that direction.


Once you gain strength in that area, you can tweak your goals to accommodate other priority areas, such as social anxiety. Setting specific focus areas for improvement allows you to focus on your greatest priorities.


You can measure progress with goals

What will determine if counseling isn’t producing results when you don’t know the purpose of counseling? Goals can’t be monitored or made specifically.


Set goals and your achievement will be measurable. For instance, if you start by aiming to improve your self-esteem, you may give yourself a 4 on a scale of 10. You can then track it monthly to see if it changes.


By measuring your aspirations, you can see yourself in the future. You receive concrete proof that counseling works. That gets you more motivated by seeing wins.


Goals help keep you track

You are at the mercy of rabbit holes when you seek counselling to devolve into avenues that are not helpful for your progress and healing. Goals are a way to ensure you, and your therapist are still focused on the skills and concerns that are emotional and most important to your mental health.


If you, for example, want to become more assertive, the counselor will keep refocusing the sessions on assertiveness. This prevents the process from going in circles.


Goals build your confidence

When you achieve small victories, you are very satisfied with yourself. You start to trust yourself more, one by one.


A first step in overcoming social anxiety could be asking three strangers what time they are. And when you do that, you have evidence that you can challenge your bubble.

Gradual improvement builds self-efficacy and establishes the permanence of change. Achievable goals broken down into manageable levels help maintain confidence over time.


So, let’s take a closer look at creating reasonable counseling goals.


4 Steps to Make Therapy Objectives for Growth

You'll be rewarded if you set your counseling aspirations in a defined way. These are the steps to take:


Step 1: Choose your growth areas

Let’s start by asking yourself about your mental health struggles and identifying one or two things you need to change the most.

For instance, you want to:

  • Not being depressed or anxious?

  • Recover from trauma or loss?

  • Better connections?

  • Increase self-esteem?

  • Enhance coping skills?


Choose one or two places that are stuck or painful. Setting goals in these regions will facilitate development.


Step 2: S.M.A.R.T. your objectives

S.M.A.R.T. is a verb so that you will make your objectives well organized:

  • Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve. Vague goals breed confusion. Get precise.

  • Measurable: Quantify your goals so you can concretely track progress.

  • Achievable: Make sure your goals are realistic for your current life situation. Stretch yourself, but not to the point of discouragement.

  • Relevant: Your goals should directly connect to your core values, needs, and desires for your life. Focus on what matters most.

  • Time-bound: Set specific deadlines for achieving the goals, creating accountability and giving urgency.


Let's look at some examples:

  • Non-S.M.A.R.T. goal: "I want to improve my marriage."

  • This goal is vague, hard to quantify, and lacks a timeline.

  • S.M.A.R.T. goal: "Over the next 3 months, my spouse and I will improve our marriage by having meaningful conversations about our relationship for 30 minutes each Tuesday evening."


See the difference? The S.M.A.R.T. goal is specific, easy to measure, action-oriented, relevant, and time-bound.


Step 3: Break big goals into smaller steps

If ambitious objectives are too many, break them into smaller escalations. It creates pressure with little victories.


For instance, if your whole purpose is to overcome social anxiety, then mini aims could be:

  • Week 1: Smile and look at five strangers.

  • Week 2: Have two conversations with neighbors.

  • Week 3: Request one colleague for a lunch date.

  • Month 2: Go to a friend’s party invite.


Reward yourself for each accomplishment! It encourages you to keep working by identifying little steps.


Step 4: Never stop checking and revising your intentions

When you develop in your counseling, reevaluate goals regularly.

You will be able to finish more quickly than you anticipated. Others might need to stretch out your deadline or try something new.


Modify your objectives to keep them fresh. Don’t let past objectives die and become outmoded. Making regular check-ins helps you stay motivated.

 

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