Motivational

Interviewing
Presented by:
Marie Abordo, Kelly DeCollibus, Kristen Hartley,
Maressa McDonald, and Julia Montes

Founders William Miller &

Stephen Rollnick

Before MI, many therapists

had gone through addiction
counseling themselves

Therapists developed specific

interventions that worked for
themselves

The therapist needs to help the client find

motivation to change
Listening with empathy
Minimize resistance and do not push against it
Nurture open optimism

Aims to help clients explore and resolve their

ambivalence about behavior change
Ambivalence is a common conflict of feeling two
ways about something or someone wanting to
change and wanting to stay the same at the same
time

Motivation is already there, but must be brought out from the

client through interpersonal dynamic

Addressing Initial Ambivalence

k

processes

You have to engage before you can focus on a particular topic of behavior to
change, you have to focus before you can evoke motivation, and you have to to
have motivations before you do any planning

Ask Permission

Research on Efficacy
Lundahl and Burke (2009) conducted a review on the research
that supports Motivational Interviewing
+ Their goal was to provide data for practitioners of the effectiveness,

so they can make an informed decision about the value and

applicability of MI in their clinical work

Lundahl, Kunz, Brownell, Tollefson, & Burke (2010) investigated

the unique contribution MI has on counseling outcomes and
compared with other interventions

Is MI Effective
YES, it does work -Lundahl and Burke (2009); Lundahl, Kunz, Brownell,
Tollefson, & Burke (2010)

A large and growing body of research has examined the

effectiveness of MI. Lundahl and Burke (2009) found:
+

1980 to 1989: 6 references

1990 to 1999: 78 references

2000 to 2009: 707 references

How Effective is MI
+ MI is significantly 10%-20% more effective than no

treatment

+ Equally effective and potentially more effective to other

viable treatments for a wide variety of problems

MI is Effective for What Problems

MI originated in the treatment of substance use disorder in early
1980s:
+

Alcohol, marijuana dependence, tobacco, and other drugs (cocaine

and heroin)

Reducing risky behaviors and increasing healthy behaviors

Has also been proven to increasing client engagement in treatment
Effective for a number of other problems:
+

Gambling, eating disorders, emotional well-being

MI Works for Whom?

Effective for:
+

Clients with severe problem levels in the areas of substance abuse and
anxiety

Clients with high levels of distress and relatively low levels of distress

Males and females, benefit equally

Any age (except for very young children or cognitively impaired

individuals)

Minority groups may benefit more from MI (African Americans and

Hispanic Americans)

Other Findings on MI
+

More MI is associated with better outcomes

MI as a group treatment is NOT effective (discourage treatment

that solely relies on group-delivered MI)

Problem feedback generates better MI outcome for some

problems than MI alone

MI IS successful in motivating clients to change

MI IS durable

MI requires LESS time than other treatments

Role Play Scenario

Kelly is a high school junior who
has been referred by her mother
to see the school counselor. Her
mother is at her wits end about
Kellys dangerous and smelly
smoking habits and would like to
see her daughter stop smoking.
Kelly does not view her smoking
as a problem, but rather as a
way to relieve her stress and fit
in with her friends.

Change Ruler: Scaling

The End
Any questions ???