Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is a short-term technique used in the treatment of alcohol and substance use disorders. This approach to treatment focuses on helping people to feel more motivated to change their destructive, harmful behavior. It integrates aspects of motivational interviewing and is based on the transtheoretical model of change. For people who are ambivalent about giving up their addiction or who are not motivated to recover, MET can be a helpful way to inspire change. The MET approach can be useful for helping people understand the effects of their behavior and feel more capable of recovering from addiction. MLA

Motivational enhancement therapy is brief and time-limited as it lasts for four to six sessions. The first session consists of an assessment. The next two to five sessions utilize motivational interviewing strategies to help the client gain greater awareness, build motivation, and develop a plan to change. Motivational interviewing is a counseling approach that helps people resolve ambivalence and improve motivation to change. It focuses on helping people become more willing, confident, and ready to change. Therapists also help clients explore coping strategies and encourage commitment to making a change.

Motivational interviewing approaches to therapy focus on five key motivational principles. During treatment, MET therapists may express empathy, by helping people develop and express empathy for others. Through empathy, therapists help people understand how their behaviors affect other people and this encourages them to change. Also, they may acknowledge discrepancy, which means recognizing that there is often a discrepancy between a person’s desired place to be and where they actually are. Moreover, therapists may avoid arguments with individuals at all cost. This is because argumentation often triggers defensiveness and resistance to change. The therapists also learn to accept resistance and look for ways to minimize it. This enable individual to stay in treatment and work toward building intrinsic motivation to change.