Motivation

By: Maggie, Graduate Intern 

Motivation—I know, it is something we all want, yet seldom have, unless you are David Goggins. When you hear the word motivation, you may roll your eyes and say, “yeah, yeah, I know it’s important for work or losing weight”. But, motivation can be used in a multitude of ways and it is really important when talking about therapy and OCD treatment. In exposure-response prevention therapy, your therapist is asking you to sit in the distress and face what you fear, not exactly what the layman envisions when seeking help from a psychotherapist. 

If you are reading this post, you may not know it, but you used motivation to seek out help. Individuals with OCD or anxiety spend an immense amount of time, energy, and brainpower to contain the unwanted thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that they fear. Why not divert that attention and energy to therapy, to physical health, to overcoming your anxiety? 

You may be yelling at your computer screen saying, “it is not that easy! You make it sound like a piece of cake”. And while it may sound impossible to find the motivation to intentionally be in pain with exposures, you already have the energy capable of facing the fear. Let us start simple, what are the different types of motivation?

Motivation can be categorized into two main types: Intrinsic or internal and extrinsic or external. 
Intrinsic motivation is when individuals do something because they are interested in it or enjoy it. The reason you are doing the thing is that it comes from within you. The outcome of intrinsic motivation looks like joy, gratification, relief, or a sense of competence. An example of intrinsic motivation would be if you enjoy dinosaurs, so you teach yourself about the intricacies of dinosaurs. 
Extrinsic motivation is when individuals do something because they are told to do it, or they have the need to achieve a goal, want to get a reward, avoid a disadvantage, or want to gain power or affiliation. An example of extrinsic motivation would be doing an assigned chore because your parents said that you would be grounded if you did not finish them. It could also look like losing weight because you want the attention of others. 

There are positive and negative motivators, but you can use both in treatment. A negative motivator in treatment could be not wanting sores on your skin from picking or washing your hands. It could also look like a fear of being alone because your partner does not want to marry someone who is constantly checking the door. A negative motivator could be a fear or a threat, but it can be reined in during therapy. Do you want to suffer from intrusive thoughts for the rest of your life? No. So what should you do instead? Do your homework, do exposures, exercise, eat relatively healthy, socialize, sleep, drink water. All these tasks contribute to the well-being of your treatment. 

A positive motivator in treatment could be giving yourself a goal of doing ten exposures in a week and rewarding yourself with an ice cream date. An intrinsic positive motivator example is seeking the satisfaction of reading the entire Grayson book for homework.  Positive motivators are great because you are motivating yourself to do something you may not want to do or maybe painful, but you are doing it for something that feels good or makes you happy. 

How do you become motivated to overcome OCD, anxiety, BDD, etc.? 
The great thing about motivation is that it can be increased by a few small tasks. Some ways to increase your motivation are: 

•Start small – do not shoot for the moon when you do not have a rocket ship. Create attainable and measurable goals/tasks to achieve. 

•Connect to your values- reminding yourself of values is a crucial component of motivation. Values can be family, friends, faith or it can be valued taking care of yourself or valuing being a kind human. When you wake up less motivated and it is raining outside and your goal is to go on a run, how can you get motivated? Review and get in touch with your values. 

•Reach out for support—if you are feeling alone in your therapeutic journey, reach out to a friend or your family and ask if they would be willing to come up with some exposures for you to do. Asking for help is an important aspect of therapy and advocating for yourself

•Accountability—accountability can look like multiple things. You could have an accountable friend to who you report; your therapist can keep you accountable for doing homework, or you can keep yourself accountable by keeping a journal and tracking progress. 

•Expect life to throw hurdles your way—Life has a funny way of keeping us on our toes. If we can expect and prepare for hurdles that will inevitably show up, we will not be surprised or taken aback when they do show up. Instead, we will be prepared to tackle the hurdles. 

•Celebrate wins!—it can be inherent to focus on the failures or setbacks and ignore the wins. Remember to celebrate even the smallest wins. Share your success with others, treat yourself, recognize the accomplishment and remember what the win feels like to know you are moving in the right direction. 


If you find it difficult to motivate yourself or you are having a really bad day, look up motivational videos on Youtube. Here is a good one: