Sometimes, it can be extremely challenging to break free of your addictive tendencies and find the motivation to quit and stay sober. This can be especially true for addicts who may be in denial about their addiction, or if your only motivation to seek treatment was to change for others, not because you wanted to change.
Motivational interviewing is a type of addiction treatment that is centered around increasing an addict’s motivation to change their behavior for the better. In this article, you’ll learn more about what is the primary goal of motivational interviewing, other goals of motivational interviewing, and the general motivational interviewing concepts to help you quit and maintain life-long sobriety.
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Struggling with addiction? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you on your addiction recovery journey.
What is Motivational Interviewing?
Motivational interviewing is defined as an “evidenced-based counseling approach that health care providers can use to help patients adhere to treatment recommendations.” In other words, motivational interviewing (MI) is a type of addiction treatment used to help change the addict’s behavior and encourage them to follow treatment recommendations.
Motivational interviewing can be especially beneficial for patients who’ve tried other psychotherapy treatment options in the past without much success.
This is because the goal of motivational interviewing, rather than telling the client’s what they should be doing to overcome addiction and maintain long-term sobriety, motivates and encourages the client to want to change their behavior for the better. Therefore, motivational interviewing aims to help clients find their reasons for quitting and staying sober, rather than just hearing other people tell them what they should or shouldn’t be doing.
What Is the Primary Goal of Motivational Interviewing?
So, what is the primary goal of motivational interviewing?
The primary goal of motivational interviewing is to increase and encourage someone to change their behavior for the better by identifying ambivalence (uncertainty) and trying to resolve it. Sometimes, addicts are either “forced” into addiction treatment or decide to seek addiction treatment more so to appease their loved ones rather than having the intrinsic motivation within themselves to make genuine, life-long changes. Motivational interviewing especially helps these patients who may have struggled in the past to make and maintain life-long changes when it comes to overcoming their addiction.
During a motivational interviewing session, a clinician acts as a guide to encourage and change a patient’s behavior and decision-making. For example, during a MI therapy session, a clinician may help the client clearly lay out what they want to change about themselves, the reasons why they want to make the change, and setting up a concrete plan to execute those changes in their life.
What Are Other Common Goals of Motivational Interviewing?
Although the primary goal of motivational interviewing, in general, is to identify uncertainty and work towards resolving it to make positive change, there are several other goals within the primary goal to help clients successfully make a positive behavioral shift.
For example, goals like having the client engage in the conversation with the clinician about making change and planning for how a client can take practical steps to execute that change in their own life are other goals within motivational interviewing.
Start Your Addiction Recovery Journey Today
Now you know more about motivational interviewing and what is the primary goal of motivational interviewing. It can be difficult to overcome addiction and maintain long-term sobriety, especially if you have mixed feelings or doubts about the addiction recovery process.
Motivational interviewing helps combat feelings of doubt or uncertainty a client may have about getting sober and encourages them to change their behavior for the better. Overall, motivational interviewing looks to help the client explore the client’s inner motivation for why they want to quit abusing drugs or alcohol, rather than simply forcing or telling an addict to quit.
At Rise in Malibu, we offer several different treatment options at our Malibu drug and alcohol treatment center to help any clients struggling with drug or alcohol addiction. Our team of highly trained, compassionate staff is here to help you every step of the way on your addiction recovery journey so you can live a happier, healthier life free from the chains of addiction.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you break free of addiction for good.
