Motivational enhancement in group therapy

(from the chapter) Over the past 20 years or so, motivational interviewing (MI) has been used in a wide variety of settings and has become well established as a primary, or component part of, interventions at many levels, to the point where it now almost goes without saying. However, to date, very few of these interventions have been implemented within the medium of the group. In this chapter I focus on group therapy offered in formal treatment settings, both residential and day therapeutic provisions, within the field of alcohol misuse, as this is where I have gained most of my experience in the addictions. Although clients present in many different ways, at different stages of change, the commonality is that they have chosen to attend a situation in which the primary interactions will relate to their use of alcohol or drugs. This is the locus of the first conversation between therapist and patient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)