A pilot test of motivational interviewing groups for dually diagnosed inpatients

Motivational interviewing is a brief treatment approach designed to produce rapid, internally motivated change in addictive behaviors. Motivational in terviewing shows promise for engaging clients with dual psychiatric and psy choactive substance use diagnoses in treatment. While initially developed a s an individual treatment approach, key motivational enhancement principles may be applied to structured group interventions to facilitate its introdu ction to inpatient dual-diagnosis treatment. We describe how we developed a nd pilot-tested a motivational interviewing group for dually diagnosed inpa tients, and illustrate successes and pitfalls in clinical implementation. G roup participants were readily engaged by the entertaining format and often provocative content, and appeared to benefit from exploration of their amb ivalence regarding change. Directions for further development and evaluatio n are proposed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.