Motivational interviewing

(from the chapter) Motivational interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2002) is a counselling approach that helps clients to explore what they really want and direct their energy into taking action that will help them to achieve it. It was originally developed in the specialist addictions field but has since been found to have wider application. It can be used to help clients who are considering a specific behaviour change such as: • Committing themselves to a particular treatment programme • Taking long-term medication • Changing their alcohol or drug use It is not possible to do justice to the complexity of motivational interviewing in a few hundred words. This chapter merely outlines the key principles of this approach and looks at how it can be used in the context of dual diagnosis. You can find further explanations of motivational interviewing in Miller & Rollnick (2002) or Rollnick et al. (1999). Specific ideas on integrating motivational interviewing into work with clients with a dual diagnosis can be found in Sciacca (1997), Martino et al. (2002) and Graham (2003). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)