Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Gambling

This presentation will focus on Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help individuals with addictive behaviours such as gambling. Gambling is the ability to risk something of value with the hope of getting something of more significant value. Gambling often stimulates the brain's reward system, just like alcohol and drugs.

According to Livingstone et al. (2018), more than 26% of the world's population gamble. This indicates that more than 1.6 billion people worldwide gamble, while in the United Kingdom, statistics show that an estimated 2.1 million people gamble. In most cases, gamblers lose excessive amounts of money and time. Gamblers, on the other hand, cannot "simply stop," and at this point, they may realize that they want professional counsel and support. Furthermore, since gambling is addicted and studies demonstrate that it disrupts personal, financial, familial, and employment relationships, there is a greater need to assist people who are struggling with gambling issues. Besides, since it is linked to problems like divorce, debt, bankruptcy, and crime, I perceive it as an agent of poverty which should be prevented by all means.

CBT helps to positively alter an individual's feelings and equips them with coping strategies that assist them in dealing with stressful events since it enables individuals to handle one fear, and prepare them for problematic interactions with others. It can also be applied to strategies like cognitive reframing or restructuring, guided discovery, activity scheduling, and behavioural activation. Therefore, cognitively restructuring people thoughts on gambling ca be effective in treating gambling issue. Besides, the objective of CBT is to assist an individual in dealing with an overwhelming challenge positively by breaking the problem down into smaller parts. Then an individual is directed to change these negative thinking patterns and to change the way one feels about themselves.

Similarly, unlike other therapies, CBT treat the current issues, rather than looking at the past. Moreover, CBT can be useful towards improving an individual's state of mind. This intervention can be effective in treating a number of various mental health conditions such as gambling, and other conditions like depression and anxiety. Fern and Byrne (2013) suggests it works by enabling an individual to see things differently, challenging underlying assumptions created by the wrong thoughts, and creating new goals. Also, it allows person to stop taking the blame for everything and, become more aware of their mood. Therefore, it is evident that the method is very effective in treating addictive behavior which seem challenging to many people in community.

The therapist often uses the past experiences of the client to understand their current feelings, thoughts and beliefs. The therapist also applies the client's experience to change their thinking patterns after getting a better understanding of the behaviour and motivation. After the therapist identify negative thoughts, they help the client develop a more positive and healthier way of thinking, and also help them adopt to new beliefs and feelings Fenn & Byrne (2013). Also, an individual is helped to challenge these thoughts more clearly Padesky & Mooney (2012). Therefore cognitive behavioural therapy usually has the best results in gambling.

CBT is a structured form of psychotherapy where an individual is helped to change their behaviour and their perception. In this therapy, the therapist often works with the client to identify the goals and expected outcomes. This method has been proven to be effective due to its testability scientifically. Furthermore, it addresses the root of the challenge or problem, and it is evidence-based, thus effective for addressing gambling-related matters (Fenn & Byrne, 2013). More importantly, it has been proven to be critical in altering behaviour and re-training thoughts to make individuals feel better and make the client acquire lifelong skills, thus preventing repetitive behaviour. Therefore, since gamblers do not ever stop, and when they do, they result in many side effects including suicide, gamblers need professional help (Padesky & Mooney (2012).

Although CBT is important in changing people's lives, it is also time restricted and scientifically established, its specific role is unknown because this type of treatment has a limited scope and requires a high level of commitment during the therapeutic process. Hauke and his colleagues (2016). Furthermore, therapy frequently tests people emotionally and helps them improve over time, despite the fact that the process is often tough. Furthermore, it can be time-consuming, especially when the person has other commitments, and it may not be appropriate for someone who has more serious mental health difficulties.

Cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) has helped patient well-being for a variety of physical and mental health issues over the years. Many randomized control studies have been integrated into hundreds of systematic reviews, proving its usefulness. As a result, it has been established as a ‘gold standard' therapy. Anxiety, gambling, and depression are among the disorders that the treatment has been shown to effectively cure. After 5–15 modules, the therapy has proved to be 50–75 percent successful in treating anxiety and depression. Robertson is a member of the Robertson family (2019). CBT is also important for reducing depression. Hauke and his colleagues (2016).

The World Health Organization, National Psychiatric and Psychological Associations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, as well as the National Institute of Mental Health, all endorse CBT. Therapists help people recognize their existing talents and how to use them to build resilience. Mooney & Padesky (2012). Therapists employ positive interviewing techniques and therapeutic strategies, such as greater silence and smiling (Padesky & Mooney, 2004). (2012). Therefore, with the increased approval from various medical association, it is clear that the method is very effective in treatment of additive behavior like gambling.

Rollnick and Miller (1995) defined motivational interviewing as a "directive, client-centered counselling method for eliciting behavior change by assisting clients in exploring ambivalence." MI's goal is to aid in the natural process of change by improving a client's motivation through examining and resolving ambivalence, and this strategy can be used to treat a variety of problems. This technique is effective at increasing motivation for behavioral change and encouraging clients to persuade themselves to make healthy lifestyle choices. Collaboration is one of the tactics used, in which the therapist tries to see things from the client's point of view. Miller and Rollnick are a husband and wife team (2012). Evocation is another approach, in which the individual is persuaded to change their beliefs and ways of thinking. Furthermore, the therapist respects the client's decision-making abilities and responsibility by always drawing out the individual's perceptions rather than imposing a viewpoint on him. Therefore this method is effective and can make more people impacted by gambling to receive treatment by change of behavior.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a technique for increasing change motivation in people who are unable or unwilling to change. It is particularly successful with those who are unable or unwilling to change. Motivational interviewing was originally developed to address alcohol addiction, but it now encourages people to think about and discuss their motivations for wanting to change. It is now used to treat chronic illnesses like as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease (Miller & Rollnick, 2012). Individuals who are already motivated and willing to change, on the other hand, will find it less useful. The counselor's job in dealing with gambling addiction is to start a discourse about commitment and change (Lundahl et al., 2010). As a result, the interviewer pays attention to and reflects on what the customer has said, and then assists them with an explanation. Therefore, this method is client centered thus useful in changing gambling problem.

The goal of motivational interviewing is to encourage people to take an active role in the behavior change process. The disparity is developed in this therapy. As a result, the therapist frequently draws attention to the discrepancy between what they are doing and their objectives. Individual resistance must be accommodated, a gap between personal aspirations and conduct must be created, empathy must be expressed through contemplative listening, and confrontation and disagreements must be avoided (Miller & Rollnick, 2012). Thus this therapeutic technique promotes self-actualization by empowering clients to control their own destiny.

Motivational interviewing is a type of treatment that helps therapists to go deeper into a client's story and find the essential themes. Furthermore, the therapy tries to promote the patient's decision-making autonomy as well as define the patient's strengths and ambitions. It has been shown to improve therapeutic participation rates and reduce the likelihood of future relapses (Miller & Rollnick, 2012). It also helps people learn to rely on themselves and recognize that change originates from inside, as well as promotes high-risk behavioral changes (Miller & Rollnick, 2012). Therefore, motivational Interviewing as an interpersonal approach aims to help people explore and resolve ambivalence while also increasing motivation for change.

Motivational interviewing is also limited since it works best for those who have conflicting thoughts about changing their behavior. Furthermore, the therapy is rarely effective in the treatment of trauma or depression. The person who is being helped must be conflicted about changing their behavior. Furthermore, an inexperienced therapist may struggle with this strategy, and the therapy may not be effective for some illnesses, such as depression. Furthermore, the therapy is ineffective for people who are already very driven to improve.

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References

David, D., Cristea, I. and Hofmann, S.G., 2018. Why cognitive behavioral therapy is the current gold standard of psychotherapy. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, p.4.

Fenn, K. and Byrne, M., 2013. The key principles of cognitive behavioural therapy. InnovAiT, 6(9), pp.579-585.

Hauke, G., Lohr, C. and Pietrzak, T., 2016. Moving the mind: embodied cognition in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). European Psychotherapy, 13, pp.154-178.

Linardon, J., Wade, T.D., De la Piedad Garcia, X. and Brennan, L., 2017. The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 85(11), p.1080.

Livingstone, C., Adams, P., Cassidy, R., Markham, F., Reith, G., Rintoul, A., Dow Schüll, N., Woolley, R. and Young, M., 2018. On gambling research, social science and the consequences of commercial gambling. International Gambling Studies, 18(1), pp.56-68.

Lundahl, B.W., Kunz, C., Brownell, C., Tollefson, D. and Burke, B.L., 2010. A meta-analysis of motivational interviewing: Twenty-five years of empirical studies. Research on social work practice, 20(2), pp.137-160.

Miller, W.R. and Rollnick, S., 2012. Motivational interviewing: Helping people change. Guilford press.

Padesky, C.A. and Mooney, K.A., 2012. Strengths‐based cognitive–behavioural therapy: A four‐step model to build resilience. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 19(4), pp.283-290.

Robertson, D., 2019. The philosophy of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT): Stoic philosophy as rational and cognitive psychotherapy. Routledge.