Motivational enhancement: Sparking the fire within!

Abstract

Since time immemorial, alcohol has been used as a “pleasure drink” by humankind. These occasional drinks, slowly over time, do result in addiction due to their rewarding and reinforcing nature. As psychiatrists, we have an important role in alcohol de-addiction, which includes not only implementing pharmacotherapy but also delivering various nonpharmacological interventions as well to prevent relapses. Varying degrees of success have been obtained, however, devising an approach which would work for all individuals of alcohol dependence has been challenging. Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is one such attempt which employs common principles to address individual patient needs. This article gives an overview of MET; its principles and structure, besides, throwing light on various challenges practically experienced by postgraduates while delivering MET.

Keywords

• Alcohol
• enhancement
• motivational