Effects of motivational interviewing training on mental health therapist behavior

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence 2006-05, Vol.82 (3), p.269-275
• Main Authors: Schoener, Eugene P., Madeja, Cheryl L., Henderson, Melinda J., Ondersma, Steven J., Janisse, James J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders; Community Mental Health Services; Directive Counseling; Drug addiction; Empathy; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Medical sciences; Mental health; Michigan; Miscellaneous; Motivation; Motivational interviewing; Professional-Patient Relations; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Substance abuse; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Substance-Related Disorders - therapy; Suburban Population; Toxicology; Training; Urban Population
• ISSN: 0376-8716; 1879-0046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2005.10.003

This study examined the effectiveness of training community mental health therapists in motivational interviewing (MI) adapted to treat clients with co-occurring disorders. Ten therapists with high caseloads of culturally diverse clients in two different community mental health settings fulfilled all study requirements. MI training consisted of a two-day didactic and experiential workshop followed by eight biweekly small group supervision (coaching) sessions. Using an interrupted time series design, 156 randomly selected therapy sessions involving 28 clients were coded for assessment of therapist fidelity to MI at multiple points in time, both pre- and post-training. Employing hierarchical linear modeling analysis, significant improvement in MI skill was observed after training on five of six key therapist ratings, and on the sole client rating (client change talk) that was examined. Importantly, the present study demonstrates training-related proficiency in motivational interviewing using: (a) a representative sample of mental health therapists from the community; (b) a protocol emphasizing adherence to a mental health treatment regimen as well as management of substance use behavior for clients with co-occurring disorders; (c) repeated random observations of therapy sessions; (d) measurement of training-related changes in clinician skills and self motivational statements by clients. Findings of this effectiveness study compared favorably with efficacy literature on MI training.