The Art and Science of Motivation: A Therapist's Guide to Working With Children

The authors' groundbreaking approach to working with children and their parents or carers places motivation at the heart of all encounters and therapeutic activities. The book provides readers with both a theoretical and practical understanding of methods for engaging and working successfully with children with a range of difficulties, from physical disabilities to learning disabilities and emotional and behavioural difficulties. The authors present an innovative new paradigm - the model of Synthesis of Child, Occupational Performance and Environment - In Time (SCOPE-IT) - for working with these groups to enhance motivation and engagement and to achieve the best possible treatment outcomes. The challenges professionals may face are clearly addressed, and the contributors also explain how the therapist's use of language may influence motivation. Engaging clinical examples bring to life the SCOPE-IT model, and the book closes with an extended case study of the therapeutic journey of one individual, his parents and a therapist, placing the key concepts from the preceding chapters in a richly human and personal context. Combining research-based theory with a wealth of tools and strategies for practice, this book will be inspiring reading for all those working therapeutically with children and young people, including occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, counsellors, psychologists and psychotherapists.

Jenny Ziviani is Professor of Children's Allied Health Research, a joint appointment between the University of Queensland, Australia, and Queensland Health. She previously worked as an occupational therapist, academic and allied health researcher. She has an extensive publication record, and has been commended by the Australian Association of Occupational Therapists for excellence in research.

Anne A. Poulsen is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on motivation, self-concept and life satisfaction, with a particular emphasis on boys with developmental coordination disorder.

Monica Cuskelly is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Queensland. She previously worked as a psychologist, initially in clinical roles and later as an educational psychologist. Her research focuses on cognitive development, mastery, motivation and self-regulation in vulnerable populations, particularly individuals with learning disabilities, and on the experiences of families with a child with a disability.