Goal Setting
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When setting goals there are many things to consider...
Who is the goal for?
- Caregiver
- Child
- Family
Avoid developmental goals as they do not allow the family to feel a sense of accomplishment.
What is the motivation?
- Intrinsic
- Caregiver's internal motivation
- Extrinsic
- Program
- CPS
Goals that are important to the caregiver are more likely to be achieved.
What type of goal is it?
- Concrete: specific, detailed
- I would like to get a job that is part-time
- Abstract: vague, general
- I would like my children to listen to me
- Easy: a goal that will be easy for the caregiver to achieve
- I want to go to bed at 11:00 pm 3 times per week
- Difficult: a goal that will challenge the caregiver and may rely on effort and resources
- I want to buy a house in the next year so that my family has a stable place to live.
- Approach: moving towards getting or achieving something
- I want to save money to buy a used car to improve my quality of life
- Avoidance: setting a goal to avoid or prevent something from occurring
- I want to save money to buy a used car so that I don’t have to take the bus
During the goal setting process, you may need to provide feedback to the caregiver to clarify and make the goal a ‘good goal’.
What size is the goal?
- Large
- I want to buy a house
- Medium
- I want to put the baby in the crib to sleep every night
- Small
- I want to pack my children’s lunch before bed every night.
When can the goal be...?
- Short term
- I want to spend 20 minutes reading to my baby every day
- Long term
- I want to plan a Disney vacation for my family in the next year
The best goals are specific, important, moderately difficult, and achievable.