motivational interviewing

["Julia H. Littell" <jlittell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Have there been any controlled trials of motivational interviewing other
than in Project MATCH? (In that study, there were no clear advantages of
"motivational enhancement" and no treatment matching effects based on
initial motivation.) Are there any studies of MI in child welfare samples?
What is its potential for the child maltreatment field?


At 02:37 PM 5/14/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Paul Meehl, in a classic paper with the wonderful title of "Theoretical
>risks and tabular asterisks:  Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of
>soft psychology" (JCCP, 1978), provides the following insight:  "It is
>simply a sad fact that in soft psychology theories rise and decline, come
>and go, more as a function of baffled boredom than anything else."
>
>He was right, of course, as are Julia and other critics (see also Davidson,
>R. 1998, The transtheoretical model:  A critical overview, in W.R. Miller &
>N. Heather (Eds.), Treating addictive behaviors [2nd ed.]) for calling the
>stage model into question.  It is important, however, to not throw the baby
>out with the bathwater and (1) discount the ability of the better continous
>measures to predict retention and outcome; or (2) forget that with the stage
>model came a deeper awareness that most persons at any given point in time
>may require something other than action-based advice for how to change.  MI,
>although a separate literature, dovetails with this very well and has shown
>remarkable efficacy in many settings, including in increasing engagement and
>outcome in existing substance abuse treatment programs.  The potential for
>the child maltreatment field is clear.
>