What is Motivational Interviewing?
Practiced by the specialists at Counseling of Southwest Florida, motivational interviewing is used as a form of therapy and counseling that helps treat people who are suffering from addiction through an interpersonal process of behavioral changes.
How Does the Motivational Interviewing Technique Work?
It’s a twofold process. The first goal is to increase the person’s motivation, and the second goal is achieved when the person makes the commitment to change.
It’s been proven that people are more likely to make changes upon hearing themselves express a commitment out loud. Our specialists at Counseling of Southwest Florida listen to patients rather than intervene. They help the patient recognize that they are suffering due to addiction and help them see that there are different ways of coping other than consuming drugs or alcohol.
The interviewer encourages the patient to talk about their reasons for wanting to change. Upon evoking a conversation of change and commitment, the interviewer listens and reflects the information they’ve gathered back to the patient. This way, the patient can hear their own reasons and motivations communicated back to them.
Motivational interviewing requires just a few sessions and works in conjunction with other long-term counseling.
The Five Principles
The five principles of motivational interviewing empower patients, which elicits their behavioral changes:
- Express and show empathy.
- Support and develop discrepancies between a patient’s goals or values and their current behavior.
- Avoid argument and direct confrontation.
- Adjust to the patient’s resistance rather than opposing it.
- Support self-efficacy and optimism.
Counseling of Southwest Florida is Here To Help
Motivational interviewing is a skill that improves over time. Our counseling specialists have the appropriate educational background and experience in this therapy technique. We not only make patients feel comfortable, but we also empower them. We go the extra mile in order to make your experience different from other methods of therapy.
You can break the cycle of addiction. Contact Counseling of Southwest Florida today to start on the road to recovery.