What Is MI Therapy?
Addiction recovery takes time and serious effort. That’s true even for someone who’s fully committed to the goal of lasting sobriety. It can be even more challenging for someone who is ambivalent about entering treatment. This kind of reluctance is fairly common. Left unaddressed, it can derail your or your loved one’s attempt to quit drinking or taking drugs. You can overcome mixed feelings about recovery with help from motivational interviewing therapy (MI). As its name implies, this therapy seeks to make you a more active, dedicated participant in substance treatment.
Call Tree House Recovery at 910.812.1728 to learn how we incorporate this therapy into treatment.
Goals of Motivational Interviewing
The idea of entering rehab triggers conflicting feelings in most people. That’s understandable, given the changes you need to make in order to return to a substance-free lifestyle. These changes include such things as:
- Coming to grips with the impact of addiction on you and those who know you
- Learning how to recognize the thoughts and actions that help keep addiction active
- Abandoning those thoughts and actions for healthier alternatives
- Developing the skills needed to avoid drug or alcohol use when rehab ends
Your internal conflicts about the recovery process can make you less willing to enter treatment. They can also make treatment harder than it needs to be once you’ve begun a rehab program.
What is motivational interviewing? It’s a therapy approach designed to help you break through your conflicting feelings about treatment. The therapy achieves this goal by helping you understand, examine and work through your mixed feelings.
How MI Therapy Works: Details of the Process
One key to how MI therapy works is the relationship between you and your therapist. An MI therapist will not tell you what to do to overcome your conflicted feelings. Instead, they will help you find your own motivation to change. They do this by:
- Empathizing with your circumstances
- Encouraging your belief in the possibility of changing for the better
- Staying non-reactive to any negativity you express toward treatment
In this way, you take the lead in the process of increasing your motivation. The role your therapist plays is crucial but secondary to your own efforts.
Other Uses of MI Therapy
Some people affected by addiction are not reluctant to enter a rehab program. Nevertheless, they struggle with issues that could potentially interfere with their ability to succeed in treatment. The list of these potential issues includes:
- Not understanding why you need to change certain thoughts or behaviors
- Lacking confidence in your ability to reach your recovery goals
- Not prioritizing your recovery highly enough compared to other aspects of your life
Your therapist can adapt MI to help you overcome any of these rehab concerns.
Is Motivational Interviewing Effective?
Research has established the usefulness of MI therapy. In fact, the therapy is considered to be an evidence-based option for addiction treatment. Evidence-based treatments are a gold standard for effective rehab. That’s true because they work for most people who are appropriate candidates for their use. The biggest plus to MI therapy is helping you become proactive in your own recovery.
Call Tree House Recovery to Start Motivational Interviewing Therapy Today
What is MI therapy? It’s an evidence-based option for clearing up conflicted feelings about participating in substance rehab. Want more information on how this therapy works? The experts at Tree House Recovery have the details you need.
Tree House is a top provider of MI therapy in North Carolina. With our help, you can clarify your treatment goals and fully engage in the process. To learn more about our services, just call us today at 910.812.1728. You can also fill out our convenient online contact form.