Locus of Control

 Locus of control is the idea of where you think the forces are coming from that control your life - either internal or external. It is a continuum with people in all levels throughout it. If you have a more internal locus of control, you are positive and believe the decisions that you make in your life are the largest influences on what happens, but you can be very critical of yourself as an outcome. If you have a more external locus of control, you believe that the things that happen to you are out of your control, whether good or bad, and you can't do anything about what happens. This can cause people to blame others or not take credit when credit is due to them.

When taking the Rotter's Locus of Control Scale, my results indicated that I am closer to the end of the internal locus of control which was not a surprising result to me. I have always known that the actions and choses I make are going to be what guides my life for the most part. I am not unrealistic in thinking that things can't happen that are out of my control, but overall, my efforts along with actions and choses will and have made my life what it is. Along with that, I am a Christian and believe that the largest external force on my life is God and what He has planned for me, but I believe that he gives me the ability to choose right or wrong. So I think it takes a balance to understand that most things in your life can be controlled from internal forces, but at times, external forces can effect you for the good or bad when you're not expecting it. 

For my future clients, I think this is an important concept to understand because they could be from anywhere on the continuum, possibly from one extreme to the other. Something that I could imagine a very internal locus of control client doing is refusing treatment all together because they think they can fix themselves or refusing to use equipment that could be beneficial for them to use. This could cause us to use a lot of persuasion to show them how what we are offering could help them. Or you could have the flip side of internal locus of control where they think they have to work themselves 24/7 to get better and don't allow themselves any time to rest. Then you might have someone that is a very external locus of control client and they think that we need to do everything for them and even though they are not doing their exercises at home, it is still our faults for them not progressing in the way they want. Or you could have someone that thinks they have the worst luck ever and, no matter what they do, bad things are always going to happen to them so there is no point in trying. These ideas would not be beneficial for any of the clients and we need to know how to help them in the most understanding and holistic way considering their thoughts and beliefs while still helping them as much as possible.