Motivational interviewing is a therapeutic technique for helping people make changes in their lives, which has been applied effectively to treatment of addictions.

The spirit of motivational interviewing is based on three key concepts:

Collaboration between the therapist and the person with the addiction, rather than confrontation by the therapist. Collaboration is the partnership that is formed between the therapist and the client. This partnership is based on the point of view and experiences of the person with the addiction. Collaboration has the effect of building rapport between the therapist and the client, and allows the person with the addiction to develop trust towards the therapist, which can be difficult in a confrontational atmosphere. Although clients and their therapists may see things differently, the therapeutic process is focused on mutual understanding, not situations where the therapist is right and the clients are wrong.

Drawing out the individuals’ ideas, rather the therapists imposing their ideas: The approach of the therapist drawing out the individual’s own ideas, rather than the therapist imposing his or her opinions. is based on the belief that the motivation, or wish, to change comes from the person with the addiction, not from the therapist. No matter how much therapists might want their clients to change their behavior, it will only happen if the individuals also want to change their behavior. So it is therapists’ job to draw out the person’s true motivations and skills to create change, not to tell their clients what to do. Autonomy should rest with the person with the addiction, rather than the therapist having authority over him or her.

Unlike some other treatment models that emphasize the doctor or the therapist as an authority figure, motivational interviewing recognizes that the true power for making changes rests within the person with the addiction, not within the therapist. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to follow through with making changes happen. This is empowering to individuals, but also gives them responsibility for their actions.

People with addictions are often reluctant to go into treatment, because they don’t believe that the therapist, who, after all, is working to end people’s addictions, will understand why the addictive behavior means so much to them. Many, especially those who have been criticized for their behavior, believe they will be judged. Some people even feel guilty about their behavior and feel that judgment would be valid. But judgment simply is not what motivational interviewing is.
Instead of judging the person with the addiction, our therapist focuses on understanding the situation from the addicted person’s point of view. This is known as empathy. Empathy does not mean that our therapist agrees with the person, but that he or she understands the client and that the individual’s behavior makes sense now or in the past. This empathy creates an atmosphere of acceptance.

Motivational interviewing recognizes that people with addictions are usually uncertain about whether or not they want to change. Their addiction has probably already had negative consequences for them, which have brought them into treatment. Yet, they have developed their addictions as ways of coping with life, and they do not necessarily like the idea of giving up their current lifestyles.

Motivational interviewing helps people make up their minds about how to move forward. It helps individuals look at the advantages and disadvantages of different choices and actions. So, without pressuring the person, clients and therapists can work to develop goals and actions in a trusting, collaborative atmosphere, goals based on the individual’s own needs, wishes, values, and strengths.

The motivational interviewing approach recognizes that change does not always happen easily or just because the individual wants it. It is natural for the person to change their mind many times about whether he or she wants to give up their addictions, and what that process, and their new lifestyle, will look like.

Rather than challenging, opposing, or criticizing people with addictions, our therapist at Monarch Shores will help individuals reach a new understanding of themselves and what their addiction means to them. They do this by reframing and offering different interpretations of situations that occur in the change process, and work to increase the person’s motivation to change. All of this is based on the individual’s own goals and values.