Motivational Interviewing

What is addictive behavior? What therapy techniques are available to people who are suffering from addiction? Motivational interviewing is one alternative available to addicts today. This paper will define addiction and perhaps shed a light on how motivational interviewing can be seen as an option for the treatment of addiction, as well as open the door to a new way of therapy for addiction counselors.

By defining addiction, one sees the psychological effects, as well as the physical effects drugs and alcohol can portray in a individual’s life. Addiction is a physical and psychological dependence on a substance or behavior. It begins by using something to feel good. The addiction seems to "help" the person to avoid painful feelings. Over time, the person feels less pleasure, and more addicted. Eventually, the addiction leads to a feeling of "I don't care, as long as I can...", even when the effects are devastating to the addicted person or others. (Arnot Ogden Medical Center, 1998)

So, the next step is to come up with some sort of technique in order to help someone climb out of ruts of addiction. In order to leave behind the addictive behavior, as well as the consequences of the addictive behavior, a person must in a way, chang

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The counselor’s responsibility is to see that the client is able to focus on the fact that he or she can make a change. According to Miller and Rollnick, this is the most important trap to avoid, however it is hard to do so because it can catch you off guard and can happen at any stage in the counseling process. The client wants to make the change and is actively involved in trying to make the change happen.

Another trap identified with motivational interviewing is the labeling trap. Making a change does not guarantee that the change will be maintained (Miller & Rollnick, 1991).

In order to prevent this from happening, a counselor might have their client fill out a sort of self-survey.

Because there are so many different ways for a therapist to get “caught” up with clients. Because the references used in this paper differ in the importance of each principle, they will be generally listed.

There are said to be five general principles behind motivational thinking. In the early days it was acceptable to abuse alcoholics and drug addicts.

A person must want to change, they must want to make the change.

The fourth key principle in motivational interviewing is roll with resistance. This particular trap is defined as a situation whereas the client denies they have a problem and has an argument for everything the counselor may suggest. At this stage, the client should do most of the talking.

Approximate Word count = 2351
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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