Motivational enhancement therapy: characteristics and uses.

A type of psychological intervention to help people with self-destructive behaviors.

Many therapies consist, in most cases, of telling the patient what he or she should and should not do, hoping that he or she will decide to follow this advice or, on the contrary, continue to engage in behaviors that lead to discomfort and a dysfunctional lifestyle.

This is not the case with Motivational Stimulation TherapyThe aim of this therapy is to motivate a change from within the patient, that is, to make the patient take control of his or her life and to encourage him or her to improve the situation in which he or she finds himself or herself.

This therapy, which, although it would be within clinical psychology, takes knowledge from the social and organizational fields, has given quite promising results with several disorders. If you want to know more about this therapy, we invite you to continue reading this article.

Motivational enhancement therapy, what is it?

The therapy of stimulus of the motivation (in English 'motivational enhancement therapy') is a type of directive treatment, centered in the person who is in charge to put the focus in increasing the patient's motivation to change.

Typically, people who engage in self-destructive behaviors, such as addictions, self-harm or risky behaviors, often show ambivalent motivation to change, or none at all. Despite this, these individuals are aware, in most cases are aware, in most cases, that the behaviors they are engaging in are damaging both to themselves and to their environment. themselves and their immediate environment, as well as harming their health.

Therapists specialized in this type of therapy can help the patient to achieve a more objective view of his or her own behavior, which can contribute to making him or her more likely to change on his or her own, once the problematic behaviors have been analyzed.

Historical background of this therapy

Motivational Stimulus Therapy was one of three interventions first implemented in 1993 as part of Project MATCH. This U.S. project consisted of a clinical trial focused on gaining a better understanding and improving the existing improve existing treatments for alcoholism..

This therapy is based on knowledge gained from less clinical branches of psychology, such as organizations and coaching. Thus, the motivational stimulus therapy takes aspects of human resources, such as motivational interviewing, developed by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, and adapts it to the therapeutic field.

Objectives and principles of this treatment.

The main objective of the therapy is to motivate the patient so that he/she becomes a participant in his/her change, thus initiating the therapeutic process.thus initiating the therapeutic process. By motivating him/her to achieve his/her vital goals and to leave aside or, preferably, to extinguish his/her problematic behaviors, he/she will not only achieve a higher degree of well-being, but will also move away from what was hurting him/her and his/her closest environment.

In turn, as the patient sees that he is progressively able to do more things and that it was only a matter of making the decision to initiate the change, he will feel increasingly confident in himself and in his ability to cope with adversity.. This is not achieved by having the therapist tell the patient what and what not to do, but by providing feedback that encourages the patient to go for what he/she sets out to do.

Motivational stimulus therapy is based on five motivational principles, which must be applied and taken into account during treatment to ensure the best results:

1. Express empathy

It is very important that a good professional relationship between patient and therapist is created right from the first therapy session. It is necessary that both parties trust each other.The patient should feel in a safe and secure environment.

The patient should feel in a safe environment, where he/she feels respected, listened to and accepted.

2. Develop discrepancy

The patient discusses with the therapist his or her personal goals.. The professional is in charge of measuring the distance between the patient's desired goal and the state or situation in which he/she currently finds him/herself.

3. Avoid arguments

During therapy, discussions with the patient should be avoided. At this point, we refer to discussions in the moderate sense of the word, i.e., discussing negative experiences that have caused the patient to be in consultation.

Thus, during this brief therapy, rather than confronting the patient with what is wrong with his or her behavior, the therapist is in charge of offering positive answers that help the patient grow as a person.

4. Adapting to resistance

In one way or another, aspects that are resistant to change will appear throughout the therapy. Therapy of this type accepts that there are things that cannot be overcome in such a short time.This is why both patient and therapist must accept the existence of some resistance.

This point may seem counter-intuitive, but the truth is that it is not at all advisable to confront the patient's resistance at the beginning, since if we do so, the patient will display a whole repertoire of defensive behaviors, causing the therapy to stagnate.

5. Supporting self-efficacy

By self-efficacy we mean the capacity of each person to be able to face adversity and to know how to and to know how to achieve their own goals in the most appropriate way.

In this therapy, the patient is motivated to be aware that he or she is capable of practically anything he or she sets out to do, including overcoming his or her addiction.

Duration and course of therapy

This therapy is usually very brief, usually lasting about four sessions. The first session is usually the interview with the patient and the following three sessions correspond to the actual therapy.

During the first session, the therapist talks with the patient about the problem that has brought him/her to the consultation, whether it is a problem of substance addiction or any other psychological disorder. Once the problem is understood, the goals the patient wishes to achieve are addressed. Thus, therapist and patient therapist and patient cooperate in the planning of the rest of the treatment.The therapist and patient cooperate in the planning of the rest of the treatment, however, always with the professional in a directive role, since he/she is the mental health professional. The rest of the sessions are focused on achieving the goals set.

During the establishment of the goals to be achieved, it is very important that the therapist does not make any kind of confrontation with the patient nor judge him/her by the state he/she is in or what he/she has done in the past. The objective, as already mentioned, is to improve his life, and to this end, the aim is to motivate him to make the change. It should also be noted that during therapy the use of diagnostic labels is avoided and the focus is on and focus on conceptualizing the problem in terms that are more understandable to the patient.

During therapy, the therapist does not give concrete guidelines to the patient on what to do to improve. The perspective behind motivational encouragement therapy is that every patient has the resources necessary to make progress, but is either not sufficiently motivated to change or is simply unaware of his or her capabilities.

Due to its short duration and the way it is applied, this therapy is usually accompanied by the application of other therapies. It usually serves to motivate the person before he/she enters into more specialized therapies. in certain types of disorders, such as those related to mood or anxiety. As we have already mentioned, motivation is a crucial aspect to ensure that the therapeutic process meets the objectives that one has set.

For which disorders is it used?

The main population group to whom this therapy is applied are people who are suffering from some kind of drug addiction, either alcohol or illegal substances such asThe therapist works to get the person to stop the addiction, whether it be alcohol or illegal substances such as cocaine, marijuana and others. The therapist works to develop the patient's own will to confront his or her drug addiction.

Compared to other therapies in the field of substance abuse, which are usually developed according to a step-by-step program, motivational enhancement therapy focuses on awakening the patient's self-interest. In other words, this therapy aims to make the change come from within the patient.

It must be said that one of the factors influencing its success is the patient's own willingness to come to the clinic.. Normally, those who visit the therapist on a completely voluntary basis are already motivated, expecting the professional to know what to do to get them out of the tunnel in which drugs have put them. The therapist takes advantage of this to motivate them even more, making them see how they can control their own therapeutic process and be aware of what to do to overcome addiction.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the United States, this type of therapy has been shown to be the best in terms of cost-effectiveness for the treatment of alcohol problems.

But But it has not only been applied with those who suffer from some type of addiction, but also with those who suffer from alcoholism.. It has been shown to be especially useful for people suffering from disorders such as eating disorders, anxiety problems or even compulsive gambling. Also, according to the investigation, it has given results with people with the HIV virus, promoting positive changes in their lives in spite of having a chronic disease and that, nowadays, is still very stigmatized.

Bibliographic references:

• Huang, Y., Tang, T., Lin, C., & Yen, C. (2011). Effects of motivational enhancement therapy on readiness to change MDMA and methamphetamine use behaviors in Taiwanese adolescents. Substance Use & Misuse, 46, 411-416.
• Korte, K. J., & Schmidt, N. B. (2013). Motivational enhancement therapy reduces anxiety sensitivity. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37, 1140-1150.
• Naar-King, S., Wright, K., Parsons, J. T., Frey, M., Templin, T., Lam, P. & Murphy, D. (2006). Healthy choices: Motivational enhancement therapy for health risk behaviors in HIV-positive youth. AIDS Education and Prevention, 18(1), 1–11.
• Petry, N. M., Weinstock, J., Morasco, B. J., & Ledgerwood, D. M. (2009). Brief motivational interventions for college student problem gamblers. Addiction, 104, 1569-1578.