What Are the 5 Stages of Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Addiction Recovery?
The process of treating and overcoming addiction to any substance will likely involve therapy of some kind to help people relearn and move beyond unhealthy or flawed thought and behavior patterns. This work can be challenging for patients, but the reward is long-term improvements in how they respond to future hardships or stressful challenges — and the ability to overcome cravings and temptations to relapse long after treatment is completed. While some therapeutic approaches are fairly common, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and group therapy sessions, others aren’t as widely known. Still, more specialized types of talk therapy can be immensely beneficial, depending on each person’s addiction history, current needs, and future goals. One such example is motivational enhancement therapy (MET) for addiction. Let’s explore why this can be an incredibly powerful tool while treating addiction.
What Is Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Addicts?
Addiction treatment in modern times is less focused on punishing people and telling them just to stop using drugs or alcohol. Instead, the power of motivation is harnessed, according to a website called Positive Psychology. During motivational enhancement therapy for addiction, therapists use a short-term, standardized process of four appointments tapping into motivational psychology that involves clients setting goals and discovering the mindset of change, instead of being indifferent or ambivalent about their own recovery. The process starts with several assessments to determine where patients are before they work together to increase motivation for change, move toward a plan for change, and then follow up with more strategies. This specialized counseling was first developed in the late 1980s and has since become a relatively common component of treatment at top drug and alcohol rehab centers like Muse Treatment in Los Angeles.
5 Stages Of Motivational Enhancement Therapy in Addiction
Although it’s brief, motivational enhancement therapy for addiction can be incredibly beneficial and provide lasting change for those working to treat alcohol addiction or substance use disorder. On her website, Dr. Christy Abraham explains there are five distinct stages of change that are addressed during MET:
- Precontemplation: At first, the patient likely will not consider their own behavior problematic or actively consider trying to change it.
- Contemplation: In this second stage, patients start to consider that their behaviors could be problematic and begin to think of or want to change this behavior.
- Preparation: Patients commit to changing the identified behavior and plan to change soon, such as setting a date for the change or developing a specific plan to accomplish this.
- Action: During this fourth stage of motivational enhancement therapy for addiction, patients are actively modifying their behaviors. This stage can last as long as six months after the initial behavior change.
- Maintenance: In the last stage, patients work to maintain their changed behavior, meaning they actively make an effort to prevent going back to problematic past behaviors.
If a patient relapses, falling back into their past behaviors, they can restart this process of change.
What Are The Principles Of Motivational Enhancement Therapy?
Positive Psychology explains that there is one primary goal of MET in addiction treatment: Increasing the patient’s motivation. By gradually progressing through the five stages of change, beginning with not considering or wanting to change and ending with actively maintaining the change they now want, people are motivated to keep going. Unlike past abstinence-only addiction treatment methods, in which patients are told they must not drink or use drugs and that’s it, the therapist emphasizes sobriety is a clear option once the patient is ready actually to change and wants to change. This could involve discussing data that proves how beneficial it is to quit drinking or using drugs, but the difference is that during MET, patients choose their own recovery goals.
Exploring The Benefits Of Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Recovery
While motivational enhancement therapy for addiction is a relatively new specialized form of psychotherapy, some research has sought to determine just how effective it is. A 2021 article in the Journal of Family Medicine and Family Care, for example, examined the effectiveness of MET for people as they overcame alcohol dependence. The article looked at the outcomes of 40 patients, with half getting 10 MET sessions in addition to regular treatment, and the other half only receiving addiction treatment as usual. Their performance on a scale of self-efficacy, or their personal belief in their ability to achieve their desired goal or change, was then measured — and the 20 people who received both usual treatment and MET sessions scored significantly higher in their self-efficacy. This study, along with other research, points to the value of motivational enhancement therapy when helping patients gain the desire to change — and that can help them stay motivated and inspired to maintain recovery, even long after addiction treatment is finished.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Addiction Can Help at Muse Treatment
At Muse Treatment in Los Angeles, our experts know that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach or program to help people break the shackles of addiction and start their journey to lasting recovery. That’s why, no matter what addictions or mental health conditions we treat, we begin by assessing each patient and determining their specific needs for treatment based on their personal addiction journeys and their hopes and goals for a better future. Whether their treatment plan involves motivational enhancement therapy for addiction or other specialized forms of therapy, in addition to things like medication-assisted treatment (MAT), medical detox to get through withdrawal symptoms, and inpatient or outpatient rehab programs, the people who turn to us know that we’ll offer the right mix of services and support that they need to get better. We can help you or your loved one, and we’re ready to start as soon as you are. Call us today at 951-708-7904, and let’s start on the road to recovery together.
External Sources
- Positive Psychology — What Is Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)?
- Dr. Christy Abraham — Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)
- National Library of Medicine — Effect of Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) on the Self-Efficacy of Individuals of Alcohol Dependence
The post What Are the 5 Stages of Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Addiction Recovery? appeared first on Muse Treatment.
source https://musetreatment.com/blog/5-stages-of-motivational-enhancement-therapy/
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