Telephone Therapy
The administration of interventions via
the telephone has been used for many
years as an adjunct to the traditional
provision of health services (e.g., to
handle crises, provide additional support,
and answer questions). As described
earlier, Sanchez-Craig and colleagues
(1996) included a telephone intervention
in their study of treating problem
drinking with bibliotherapy. Clients
received a self-help book by mail and
either received or did not receive a 30-
minute assessment feedback/motivational
interview session. Compared with clients
who did not receive the feedback/motivational
interview session, significantly
more clients who received the session
were classified as moderate drinkers at
3-month followup, although at 12
months both groups of clients were doing
equally well.
Motivational Approaches
Several evaluations of drinking-moderation
interventions (e.g., Sanchez-Craig
et al. 1996; Skutle and Berg 1987;
Sobell et al. 1996) have incorporated
components of motivational interviewing
as strategies for engaging people in
the change process. In discussing this
issue, Miller and Rollnick (1991) suggested
that motivation can be defined
as “the probability that a person will
enter into, continue, and adhere to a
specific change strategy” (p. 19). From
this perspective, intervening with the
client to enhance motivation seems like
a natural approach for increasing the
likelihood of engaging in drinkingreduction
treatment. Brown and Miller
(1993) found that patients who received
a two-session motivational assessment
and interview shortly after intake to a
residential alcoholism treatment program
participated more fully in treatment
and consumed less alcohol at 3-month
followup than did patients who received
no motivational intervention. Bien and
colleagues (1993) examined the effectiveness
of a motivational intervention
in preparation for a Veterans Affairs
outpatient substance abuse treatment
program. Patients who received the
motivational interview had better alcohol
outcomes at 3-month followup than
did control participants, although by
the 6-month followup, group differences
were no longer significant. Taken
together, the evidence suggests that a
motivational-interviewing approach
has considerable promise for facilitating
positive outcomes in drinking-reduction
interventions.