Motivational Interviewing for Concurrent Disorders
Co-occurring conditions require a unique set of treatment strategies—and education on this deceptively common phenomenon is incomplete, particularly for concurrent addiction and mental health issues. For our work to be effective, we must pay attention not only to the particulars of each issue on its own, but also to the ways in which each influences the other, along with a client’s subjective experience of them. In this video, Wayne Skinner, MSW, and Clive Chamberlain, MD, demystify such cases through the lens of Motivational Interviewing. Here, the two Toronto-based clinicians outline MI’s core tenets and techniques and, in a set of charged vignettes, demonstrate how to integrate them into treatment for depression and painkiller dependence.
MI is known for its longstanding application to a range of addiction issues, but here Skinner and Chamberlain bring special attention to the lesser known prevalence of substance use and mental health problems in combination. Working with Bert, a distressed male client whose addiction puts his marriage and child custody at risk, which in turn fuels his depression, the two MI experts illustrate how to build therapeutic rapport, get to the heart of Bert’s desire to raise his kids, and leverage it to resolve his ambivalence toward change.
With a focus on MI’s organizing philosophies, the clinicians cover the method’s guiding principles, key techniques, and ways to use them to engage clients. Noting that having one disorder greatly increases the chances of having the other, they detail MI’s biopsychosocial and dimensional models as a holistic basis for directive yet client-centered interventions. With an emphasis on positive alliance, “rolling with resistance,” and building “change talk,” Skinner and Chamberlain help Bert move from hopelessness to agency, with tangible results.
This video is essential for anyone seeking an MI primer or effective strategies for working with concurrent disorders. You won’t want to miss this one.
