Pretreatment motivational enhancement therapy for eating disorders: A pilot study

Eating disorder patients are notoriously ambivalent about treatment and oft en lack motivation to change. These characteristics may decrease the number of patients entering treatment and increase the number of patients droppin g out of treatment prematurely. Objective: The aim of this pilot study was to develop and evaluate a motivational enhancement therapy (MET) group prog ram for eating disorder patients. The goal of the MET intervention was to i ncrease participants' motivation to change, which might be expected to incr ease the success of future treatment of patients with eating disorders. Met hod: Nineteen individuals who were referred for specialized treatment took part in the study. The intervention was based on existing literature in the field of addictions and modified for eating disorders. Results: The motiva tional measures suggested that the participants' motivation to change incre ased following the intervention. A decrease in depressive symptoms and an i ncrease in self-esteem were also found. Discussion: The results of this stu dy suggest that MET could De valuable for the treatment of eating disorder patients and provide a rationale to conduct further research in this area. (C) 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.