Motivational interviewing: Preparing people to change addictive behavior

(from the jacket) Client ambivalence is a key stumbling block to therapeutic efforts toward constructive change. Motivational interviewing—a nonauthoritative approach to helping people to free up their own motivations and resources—is a powerful technique for overcoming ambivalence and helping clients to get "unstuck." The first full presentation of this powerful technique for practitioners, this volume is written by the psychologists who introduced and have been developing motivational interviewing since the early 1980s. (jacket)In Part I, the authors review the conceptual and research background from which motivational interviewing was derived. The concept of ambivalence, or dilemma of change, is examined and the critical conditions necessary for change are delineated. Other features include concise summaries of research on successful strategies for motivating change and on the impact of brief but well-executed interventions for addictive behaviors. (jacket)Part II constitutes a practical introduction to the what, why, and how of motivational interviewing. . . . Chapters define the guiding principles of motivational interviewing and examine specific strategies for building motivation and strengthening commitment for change. (jacket)Rounding out the volume, Part III brings together contributions from international experts describing their work with motivational interviewing in a broad range of populations from general medical patients, couples, and young people, to heroin addicts, alcoholics, sex offenders, and people at risk for HIV [human immunodeficiency virus] infection. Their programs span the spectrum from community prevention to the treatment of chronic dependence. (jacket)All professionals whose work involves therapeutic engagement with such individuals—psychologists, addictions counselors, social workers, probations officers, physicians, and nurses—will find both enlightenment and proven strategies for effecting therapeutic change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (jacket)