Attempts to measure the “motivation for change” as a predictor of success or failure in psychotherapy are not warranted. The concept of motivation is useful if one looks in detail at the hierarchy of motives, from conscious to unconscious, from conflict-free to primitive, drive-determined forces, at any given stage of psychotherapy. Doing so will help distinguish wishesto continue experiencing the real and fantasied satisfactions of psychotherapy from wishes to bring about change in oneself. When careful diagnosis makes it possible to calibrate treatment goals to an accurate assessment of the patient's capacity to change, failure to meet those goals can then be explained in terms of treatment methods and techniques, instead of blaming the patient for a supposed lack of motivation to recover.