Metamotivational complexity: The case of Justin,obscene phone caller

An individual's motivational state at any one moment in time is complex. In working to treat dysfunction, anti-social behaviour or deviance, the counsellor needs to understand this complexity and design a treatment strategy that takes full account of the effects of treatment upon the complex of motivational states. This paper examines this jprocess in the case of justin, an obscene phone-caller. The theory of psychological reversals is used as a basis for the case analysis. Interventions are described in terms of their impact on the motivational state of the client.