Motivational interviewing and adolescent psychopharmacology

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an efficient and collaborative style of clinical interaction that can boost the effectiveness of the therapeutic alliance by enhancing three major elements: empathy that is accurate to the patient’s experience, patient confidence in his or her ability to improve, and positive expectations regarding the recommended treatment. This clinical perspective will describe the use of MI strategies in the practice of adolescent psychopharmacology. By fostering autonomy and personal insight, MI has helped our adolescent patients to integrate their psychiatric difficulties into a more independent and resilient identity. Among adolescent psychiatric patients, the quality of the therapeutic alliance with the psychiatrist can mediate treatment effectiveness. MI techniques can enhance three core elements of this important alliance: accurate empathy, patient self-efficacy, and positive attitudes toward the prescribed treatment. These strategies show promise in augmenting adolescents’ adherence to medication and other treatment components, arguing for empirical investigation of this effect. Finally, MI provides a practical means to convey three powerful but often elusive elements of the therapeutic alliance to psychiatrists in training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)