Integrative Model Of Counselling

The following research evaluation will aim to evaluate a piece of research about an aspect of counselling that is not directly covered by the course content but that I feel may contribute to my own personal integrative model. The piece of research that I have chosen to evaluate is Motivational interviewing which evolved from the experience in the treatment of alcoholics by William R. Miller 1983.

Theoretical Integration is the bringing together of two or more theories or approaches, taking the view that these theories work better than one single premise in treating each client in any given situation. Integrative psychotherapy involves the integration of personality, ‘making whole’, by taking unresolved aspects of the self and making them part

Due to His work with problem drinkers William R. Miller showed that better outcomes were achieved in terms of reduced relapse rates when the counsellor worked from a client-centred skill of accurate empathy (Rogers 1959). Further to this Miller began to conceptualise a model and some clinical guidelines for Motivational interviewing. The clinical process of Motivational Interviewing was derived from the work of Carl Rogers as it employs a large proportion of client’s centred skills to evoke and elicit commitment to change. However, the difference between client-centred therapy and Motivational therapy is that MI therapists are more directive and goal orientated thus focus more intently on the drive to change behaviour rather than the passive style of the counsellor and the deepening of goals in client centred therapy. Motivational interviewing was based on the premise that a client’s motivation can be increased by the strategy of the counsellor and the interactive relationship between the client and counsellor. It aims to enable clients to recognise the discrepancies between how they see their present behaviour and how they want to see their lives continuing. At the heart of motivational interviewing is enabling a client in exploring and resolving their ambivalence in order to create change. Ambivalence occurs when a client

I regularly see a client who wants to change but can’t because of the social sacrifices or sacrifices to their confidence and self-esteem they have to make. MI would help me develop my skills in rolling with the resistance the clients presents but also understand were they at in term of their motivation to change. Throughout the last two years, I have been trained briefly on the use of motivational interviewing within my placement. The qualified counsellors presently there have adopted MI as part of their own integration as they find it is more effective working with addictions. Additionally, the work in the relapse groups is also heavily dominated by the skills and techniques MI employs. Considering specialising in addictions in the future I believe applying Motivational interviewing to my integrative practice would be of benefit to the clients that come through the counselling door. In addition, my Supervisor has worked with addictions for several years and she has also integrated MI into her work and passed on a lot of that information to me, including the techniques and skills that she found for her client’s with addictions. Considering my