The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a National Helpline that is a free and confidential service that offers information and treatment referrals for people and families that have substance use or mental health disorders. In 2020, the helpline received 833,598 calls, which is a 27% increase from the previous year.
In 2018, 67,367 people died from a drug overdose in the United States. According to a press release from the CDC, the numbers for 2020 are expected to be much higher.
Drug addiction can completely take over a person’s life. Their relationships, work, school, and hobbies can completely take the backseat when they are in pursuit of their drug of choice. Addiction recovery is possible, though, but it’s necessary for the individual to want to make the change.
Motivational enhancement therapy is a therapeutic approach that has been proven to be quite effective as an addiction treatment method. Let’s take a look at what you need to know.
What Is Motivational Enhancement Therapy?
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is a form of therapy. The goal of MET is to help people identify and resolve their own issues in relation to alcohol and drugs. You might also hear this therapeutic approach referred to as motivational interviewing.
MET focus on helping people set goals and increase their motivation to reach and maintain sobriety. Typically, MET consists of an assessment that is followed by three to six sessions a week. During these sessions, discussion about substance abuse and motivational statements are encouraged.
The strategies involved in this therapy include
- Planning for change
- Setting goals
- Encouraging internal motivation.
People are usually encouraged to bring a loved one along during the process.
MET therapists work with an individual to help keep an eye on the changes they are going through. They also help to identify triggers and review their cessation and coping techniques. The ultimate goal of this approach is to help people change their relationship to negative behaviors or choices, including substances like drugs and alcohol.
You can learn more about MET as a part of treating addiction here.
How Does Motivational Enhancement Therapy Work?
There are five key components that MET addresses in its therapeutic approach. These are empathy, developing discrepancy, avoiding argumentation, rolling with resistance, and developing autonomy and self-efficacy.
Empathy
This part of MET is also called engaging. The therapist helps to build rapport, encourage understanding, and recognize how hard it is to make changes through reflective listening.
Developing Discrepancy
This component is when a therapist aids an individual in identifying values and goals they have. They also help patients see how their behaviors might be getting in the way of achieving these goals or living by these values.
Patients and therapists work as a team in order to identify behavior that they would like to change. Developing discrepancy is also sometimes referred to as focusing.
Avoiding Argumentation
As a part of this therapy, the therapist avoids attacking the patient or their behavior. This is because the philosophy of MET believes that these actions only result in resistance and defensiveness.
Instead, gentler methods are used by therapists in order to help raise awareness of any issues. Any declarations of a need for change must come from the patient themselves, rather than from the therapist.
Rolling With Resistance
One of the tactics of MET is avoiding direct confrontation to resistance. Instead, they try to defuse resistance by going along with what the patient is saying or through reflective listening.
Ambivalence is an important concept in MET and is seen as something to be curious about and to discuss rather than fighting resistance. “Change talk” is commonly encouraged and repeatedly reinforced.
Developing Autonomy and Self-Efficacy
This is a time when the therapist and patient explore specific strategies to help manage pitfalls and crises as well as plan for change. During these sessions, goal setting and commitment might be shared with a spouse or loved one. This helps to reinforce the concept of change.
Who Benefits From MET?
MET is commonly used to help with addiction treatment. Consistently, research has found that MET is effective at improving a patient’s readiness to:
- Reduce the severity of substance use
- Stop using drugs
- Lengthening periods of abstinence
There is also some evidence to suggest that motivational enhancement therapy can help with a number of other conditions, including:
- Problem gambling
- Eating disorders
- Anxiety
It is thought that MET might also help people who don’t have these disorders but are at risk of developing them. Some other research has found that MET might help youth living with HIV make positive changes in their behavior as well.
MET has been shown to be particularly successful in treating people who aren’t strongly motivated to change or are strongly resistant to change.
For example, it can be difficult for people that are addicted to drugs to stop using or to find the motivation to stop using. Because the style adopted by therapists is nonjudgmental and nonconfrontational, it can be a supportive strategy for helping people working towards addiction recovery find the motivation within themselves to make changes. This same aspect of the therapy also makes it an effective treatment for teenagers who are trying to assert their independence or experiencing identity issues.
If You Suffer From an Addiction, There Is Help For You
There are a number of different factors that can make it difficult to stop using drugs or alcohol when someone has become addicted. A physical addiction leads people to feel they need to take more, dopamine depletion motivates people to use drugs to find pleasure, and withdrawal symptoms can make stopping on one’s own incredibly difficult.
On top of that, people can become very conditioned to associate drugs and alcohol with certain people, places, things, and feelings. Additional risk factors include:
- Mental illness
- Family members with drug problems or mental health conditions
- Isolation from community
If you suffer from an addiction, you should know that there is help out there for you. There are countless community, state, and federal resources available to help you find a treatment program or therapy that can help you regain control of your life. Remember, you’re worth it!
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