Janet Treasure is Professor of Psychiatry at Guys, Kings and St Thomas Medical School (Department of Psychiatry, 5th Floor, Thomas Guy House, Guys Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK. E-mail: j.treasure{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk). She has specialised in the treatment of eating disorders for over 20 years and is Director of the Eating Disorder Unit of the South London and Maudsley Hospital NHS Trust. The unit is a leading centre in clinical management and training in eating disorders, and is also active in research and development in all aspects of this field. She acknowledges the support of the Nina Jackson Eating Disorders Research Charity in her work, which includes developing the treatment approaches discussed in this article.
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Box 1 The four central principles of motivational interviewing
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Rollnick & Miller (1995) defined specific behaviours, which could be taught to therapists, that they felt led to a better therapeutic alliance and better outcome. These are summarised in Box 2
.
Box 2 The skills of a good motivational therapist
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The first four items in Box 2
explore the reasons that sustain the behaviour and aim to help the patient shift the decisional balance of pros and cons into the direction of change. The last two items in the list cover the interpersonal aspects of the relationship. The therapist provides warmth and optimism and takes a subordinate, non-powerful position, which emphasises the patients autonomy and right to choose whether to accept and make use of the therapists knowledge and skills.
Instead of trying to fix the patients health problem by forceful instruction, therapists need to use warmth and respect to persuade the patient to want to change. The process of motivational intervention is outlined in Fig. 1
. Its aim is twofold: to increase the importance of change and to bolster the patients confidence that change can happen. Motivational therapists have to be able to suppress any propensity they might have to show the righting reflex, i.e. to try to solve problems and set things right (this is not easy because health professionals are drawn into the field because they want actively to help others). Motivational therapists have to be flexible and be able to have an appropriate balance between acceptance and drive for change.
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Fig. 1 How motivational therapy works.
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Miller developed a short intervention (the Drinkers Check-Up) which operationalised some of the factors found to be useful in increasing motivation. Motivational feedback using this instrument was compared with feedback that used a standard confrontation-based approach. The outcome, in terms of drinking 1 year later, was poorer in the group of patients who were given confrontational feedback (Miller et al, 1993). In a further study it was found that, if the motivational feedback of the Drinkers Check-Up was given as an initial intervention prior to admission to an in-patient clinic, outcome was improved (abstinence rates 3 months after discharge doubled to 57%, compared with 29% without the intervention). The therapists (unaware of group assignment) reported that patients given this intervention had participated more fully in treatment and appeared to be more motivated (Bien et al, 1993; Brown & Miller, 1993). The approach has been modified for pregnant women who drink. A similar intervention, developed for polydrug misuse, was found to be effective in pilot studies. However, this was not replicated in a later full study. The explanation for this was evident from analysis of the transcripts of the sessions. The need to complete the process of commitment to change within one session interfered with development of the patients motivation, and some therapists were moving ahead of the patient in an attempt to complete the protocol (Miller et al, 2003).
Project MATCH: alcohol misuse
Motivational interviewing has been developed into a manualised four-session therapeutic intervention called motivational enhancement therapy for alcohol (Miller et al, 1994). This was used for the motivational interviewing intervention in Project MATCH (Box 3
), the largest clinical trial ever conducted for alcoholism treatment methods. In this collaborative study, involving nine clinical sites in the USA, 1726 patients were randomly assigned to one of three interventions: 12 sessions of 12-step facilitation therapy, or 4 sessions of motivational enhancement therapy, or 12 sessions of cognitivebehavioural skills training. Five sites treated out-patients, and five gave intensive hospital in-patient treatment. Overall, the three treatment modalities yielded substantial and equivalent outcomes for up to a year following treatment (Project MATCH Research Group, 1998).
| Box 3 Information sources and manuals The standard text on motivational interviewing is Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change (Miller & Rollnick, 2002) The Motivational Interviewing website gives information about the approach, training courses, research, abstracts, videos and so on (http://www.motivationalinterview.org) The Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC) (http://casaa.unm.edu/download/misc.pdf) and the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) code (http://casaa.unm.edu/download/miti.pdf) are assessment instruments that may be used to maintain quality assurance in motivational interviewing Manuals for motivational enhancement therapy in alcohol and drug misuse (Miller et al, 1994; Miller, 2003) and bulimia nervosa (Treasure & Schmidt, 1997) The Project MATCH website is at http://www.commed.uchc.edu/match/default.htm. Manuals of the treatment procedures used in the project are available from http://www.commed.uchc.edu/match/pubs/monograph.htm
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The primary aim of Project MATCH was to examine whether it was helpful to match patients to specific forms of intervention. Over the 3 years of the follow-up period it was found that patients with higher state-trait anger responded best to motivational enhancement therapy (Project MATCH Research Group, 1997). It was concluded from the project that motivational interviewing is a cost-effective technique to facilitate change in patients who might be resistant to treatment.
Other problem behaviours
Manuals of motivational enhancement therapy are also available for cannabis misuse, polydrug misuse (Miller, 2003) and bulimia nervosa (Treasure & Schmidt, 1997).
Motivational interviewing has been found to be effective for various forms of behaviour change (for full details the systematic reviews of Dunn et al (2001) and Burke et al(2003) are recommended). Adaptations of motivational interviewing have been found to be useful for people whose problems involve alcohol, drugs, diabetes, dual diagnosis and bulimia. Mixed results have been found for its efficacy in smoking. Moderate treatment effect sizes of between 0.25 and 0.57 have been found for adaptations of motivational interviewing.
A detailed, regularly updated bibliography on the application of motivational interviewing for various clinical conditions can be found at http://www.motivationalinterview.org. It is now being applied more widely in psychiatry to address poor treatment adherence in conditions such as psychosis (Healey et al, 1998), eating disorders (Treasure & Schmidt, 1997) and comorbidity with drug and alcohol misuse (Barrowclough et al, 2001). It can also be used to improve the general health of patients with psychiatric disorders by focusing on maladaptive elements of their lifestyle, for example smoking, weight gain and inadequate exercise.
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Therapists differ in their adherence to the principles of motivational interviewing. Within Project MATCH, in which there was intensive training and monitoring to ensure equitable delivery between therapists, therapist effects on outcome persisted even after controlling for the effects of other variables. Empathy is a strong predictor of therapist efficacy. Other elements, which are more difficult to put into practice, include communicating belief in the patients abilities and judgement, i.e. hope, respect, possibilities, freedom to change, and faith in the person. The role of the therapist is to respect the patient and to hold an optimistic concept of the patients potential for goodness (high self-esteem and self-efficacy) and to help the patient work within this framework. The therapist needs to be able to shift flexibly between acceptance and change.
Training courses in motivational interviewing have mostly been relatively short (23 days). Miller and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of a 23 day training workshop in motivational interviewing for counsellors by studying samples of practice before and after the course (Miller & Mount, 2001). They found statistically significant changes in the behaviour of the counsellors consistent with the principles of motivational interviewing, but these changes were not large enough to make a difference for patients. Thus, continued practice, supervision and monitoring are needed in addition to 3-day training to attain and maintain standards.
The Albuquerque group led by Miller is developing instruments to measure therapist adherence to motivational interviewing principles. Two of these are now available: the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC) and the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) code (Box 3
).
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Models of health behaviour change
The basic principle that underpins most models of health behaviour change is that people hold a range of representations about their problematic symptoms and behaviours. For example, at one extreme are individuals who are stoical or in denial and neglect themselves or their symptoms. At the other are those who display abnormal illness behaviour and readily adopt the sick role. Most models of health behaviour change include the idea that there are at least two components to readiness to change. These are importance/conviction and confidence/self-efficacy (Keller & Kemp-White, 1997; Rollnick et al, 1999), encapsulated in the adage ready, willing and able. Importance relates to why change is need. The concept includes the personal values and expectations that will accrue from change. Confidence relates to the persons belief that they have the ability to master behaviour change. Motivational interviewing works on both of these dimensions by helping the patient to articulate why it is important for them to change and by increasing self-efficacy so that they have confidence to do so.
The transtheoretical model of change
Often there is confusion between and fusion of motivational interviewing and the transtheoretical model of change developed by Prochaska and co-workers (Prochaska & Norcross, 1994; Prochaska & Velicer, 1997).
The transtheoretical model of change breaks down the concept of readiness to change into stages, from not even thinking about it to maintaining change once it is made (Box 4
). One of the implications of this model is that for each stage certain helping behaviours are particularly constructive.
Box 4 The stages of change in the transtheoretical model
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Motivational interviewing and the transtheoretical model of change developed separately but synchronously. Motivational interviewing had no theoretical backbone, and the transtheoretical model filled some of this vacuum. Motivational interviewing is the type of process that is useful for people who are in the early stages of change. DiClemente, who worked with the Rhode Island group developing the transtheoretical model, was a co-author of the manual on motivational enhancement therapy used for project MATCH (Miller et al, 1994).
Resistance to behaviour change
Two forms of resistance can impede behaviour change. The first relates to the problem that is being considered and the second to the patienttherapist relationship. As regards the problem, there may be a conflict between the individuals conceptualisation of their behaviour and that of the family or society. Thus, individuals with, for example, anorexia nervosa or drug and alcohol misuse may not see any need to change their behaviour and will have been coerced into treatment by family and friends or statutory agencies. Human beings are inherently intolerant of lack of choice and can become motivated to do the opposite of what is requested: so-called reactance. The propensity to this response lies on a behavioural dimension, with the poles ranging from oppositional to compliant.
The other source of resistance, the patienttherapist relationship, often relates to the patients representations of helping/parental/authoritarian relationships or values about individual rights.
Individuals who are prone to both types of resistance are those with high levels of anger, aggressiveness and impulsivity and those with a need for control and with high levels of avoidance.
The effect of resistance in therapy has been reviewed in several studies by Beutler and colleagues (Beutler et al, 2002). Resistance, which is marked by anger or defensiveness, is associated with a poor outcome to therapy.
Motivational interviewing has an explicit focus on resistance in therapy. Indeed, in Project MATCH motivational interviewing was most effective in people who were angry. Within motivational interviewing there are special techniques to work with resistance. These are variations on reflective listening such as amplified reflection, in which the patients resistance and negative change position is overstated. This works on the assumption that the oppositional tendency of the patient will lead to a withdrawal back to the middle ground. Another approach is to use a double-sided reflection, which highlights the patients ambivalence. The emphasis is on the individuals autonomy in the matter of change.
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Eliciting concerns statements that affirm the need to change
The following open question is linked to a starting sentence setting the scene by acknowledging the ambivalence or resistance that is common in people with anorexia nervosa attending a clinic.
Therapist: Usually when people come to this clinic the driving force behind it has been other people such as their families or doctors. Please can you tell me how you got to come here today?
Patient: Well, my mother has been worried about me and kept nagging at me to do something.
Therapist: Your mother is concerned about your health. [A simple reflection.]
Patient: Yes, she says I am too thin. She keeps crying and says that my heart might stop.
Therapist: Have you noticed any health difficulties that suggest that there might have some grounds for her concerns? For example, can you tell me about your periods? [This sentence sets the scene for eliciting concerns by encouraging the young woman to take an external perspective, in order to sidestep her resistance. The therapist opens up the conversation, focusing on the domains in which there are common difficulties in anorexia nervosa.]
Sidestepping resistance
It is important to try not to join in with a patients anger and not to confront the patient. Instead, the therapist should reflect back the emotion of the outburst and take a low power position.
Patient: Im just going to leave here and lose weight again!
Therapist: Youre angry that after all the work youve done as an in-patient things dont feel much different. Im sorry that the team havent been able to help you be able to recognise the need to nurture yourself. Im sorry that weve been unable to help enough. [In this statement the therapist reflects the anger that underlies the patients statement and expands on the meaning behind it, which is that the in-patient team has failed to live up to expectations.]
Reflecting ambivalence the use of double-sided reflections
The therapist sidesteps a confrontational response to the following statement by making a double-sided reflection that highlights the patients ambivalence about change.
Patient: I am not prepared to let my weight go above 35 kg.
Therapist: Youre terrified about what will happen if you start to attend to your nutritional needs [empathy with the fear of change] and you know that there are clear signs that your body is suffering when your weight is below 40 kg for example your blood glucose runs at a dangerously low level and your bones are continuing to dissolve.
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View this table: [in a new window] | MCQ answers |
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