Power Point Slides Alcohol - Meagher Lab

Motivational Enhancement Therapy
! MET helps develop intrinsic motivation to change to lead client to
initiate, persist, and comply with behavior change. 5 principles
1) Express Empathy
2) Develop a Discrepancy – help client see discrepancy between where
they are and where they want to be – raise awareness of personal
consequences of drinking for pre-contemplators. Such information can
create a crisis that will motivate change. The person will be motivated
to enter into frank discussions of change options in order to reduce the
perceived discrepancy and maintain emotional equilibrium. When client
enters tx in the later contemplation stage, it takes less time and effort
to move client along.
3) Avoid Argumentation - if handled poorly, ambivalence and
discrepancy can turn into defensive coping (rationalization, denial)
which will reduce discomfort but not alter drinking. This happens when
the client perceives that your are attacking them.