Motivational interviewing

(from the chapter) Motivational interviewing (MI; Miller & Rollnick, 2002; Arkowitz, Westra, Miller & Rollnick, 2008; Rollnick, Miller & Butler, 2007) is a psychosocial intervention described by its developers as, "a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence" (Rollnick & Miller (1995, p. 326). Originally developed for the treatment of alcohol abuse, MI has become a widely used treatment for a variety of substance use disorders, and has also been adapted to promote behavior change in a number of other areas, including treatment adherence, HIV risk, exercise, diet, and gambling. These adaptations have ranged from as brief as 5-15-minute interventions in medical settings to multiple-session interventions in traditional mental health settings (see Miller & Rollnick, 2002; Arkowitz, Westra, Miller & Rollnick, 2008; Rollnick, Miller & Butler, 2007 for reviews of this literature). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)