Motivational Interviewing for Addiction
At Ocean Recovery, motivational interviewing is one of the many therapies we adopt as part of personalised treatment plan to help people overcome their uncertainty about recovery.
Motivational Interviewing for Addiction
Addiction recovery is rarely a straight line, and people in treatment are often confronted with conflicting feelings. This is known as ambivalence, and rather than not caring about changing, it is more about their feelings not being clear-cut.
People can be aware of the damage that alcohol and drugs are doing and want to change but are still unsure or lack the belief in themselves that recovery is possible.
One effective treatment approach to ambivalence is motivational interviewing. It is a collaborative therapeutic technique designed to explore and strengthen your own reasons towards reaching a goal or changing behaviour.
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- Motivational Interviewing for Addiction
- What Is Motivational Interviewing?
- Why Is Motivation Important in Addiction Recovery?
- How Does Motivational Interviewing Work?
- Exploring Mixed Feelings About Drugs or Alcohol
- Motivational Interviewing in Addiction Treatment
- Motivational Interviewing at Ocean Recovery Centre
- Our Rehab Facilities
- Images of Our Facilities
- Facilities at Ocean Recovery
- Give Us A Call
- Motivational Interviewing Alongside Other Therapies
- Meet the team
- Who May Benefit from Motivational Interviewing?
- Motivational Interviewing and Relapse Prevention
- Start Addiction Treatment at Ocean Recovery Centre
Show fewer sections
What Is Motivational Interviewing?
Motivational interviewing is a person-centred conversational approach that allows you to explore your mixed feelings about your addiction and changing your behaviour. It is a collaboration, focused on building rapport between therapist and client so that the latter doesn’t feel like they are being talked at or lectured.
Instead, your values, concerns and goals guide the conversation. From that, you can build trust, and it helps draw out your internal motivation for addiction recovery, rather than relying on external pressures or doing what you think is the right thing.
Why Is Motivation Important in Addiction Recovery?
Research has found that motivation is central to driving behaviour change in those with addiction issues.
People who enter rehab may not be fully “there” yet and ready to commit, with lingering issues. Many have conflicts brewing inside them, such as:
- Want to stop but are scared of withdrawal
- Want better health but still enjoy some aspects of substance use
- Want to repair relationships but struggling with cravings
- Feel the pressure from family while not feeling personally ready
- Have tried to stop before and are losing confidence
These are normal. You don’t have to be 100% ready when you enter rehab, as motivation can grow with time. But it is important to have it to sustain recovery efforts, keep you focused on goals and give you the drive to keep going in difficult moments.
How Does Motivational Interviewing Work?
Motivational interviewing is built on the concepts of building trust, narrowing down the conversations to come up with achievable goals, helping you realise your internal motivations and developing practical next steps.
These sessions will look at exploring techniques such as:
- Open questions – The therapist will ask questions that lead you to share your thoughts, feelings and experiences.
- Affirmations – You’ll use statements to help you recognise your personal strengths, achievements and positive efforts to help build confidence.
- Reflective listening – The therapist will do this to show understanding and allow you to hear your own thoughts echoed back to you.
- Summarising – Pull together key points to help you recognise your thoughts and achieve better understanding.
Exploring Mixed Feelings About Drugs or Alcohol
No one begins drinking or using substances because they want to develop an addiction. People value these things because they can seem to reduce anxiety in situations and give you social confidence. Substances can also be used as an escape from difficult feelings or be part of socialising.
Even as substances give you these “benefits”, they can negatively impact your:
- Physical and mental health
- Relationships
- Employment
- Finances
In motivational interviewing, it’s important that you acknowledge both sides and accept that this is where ambivalence can come from. Therapists need to be open about it, rather than come across as if you’re telling them the “right” way to live or what they “should” think about substance abuse.
Motivational Interviewing in Addiction Treatment
Motivational interviewing can help in a private drug and alcohol rehab because it can be used to underpin other treatments. From it, you can build more enthusiasm to engage with treatment by discovering recovery goals that give you motivation and become more willing to enact change that achieves these.
As you hit goals and progress, confidence builds, hopefully motivation increases, and you have the space to work through uncertainty that you may experience during detox or therapy.
Motivational Interviewing at Ocean Recovery Centre
At Ocean Recovery, we offer personalised residential addiction treatment. We understand that no recovery journey is the same and fit our treatments to the individual.
Your recovery pathway is based on your needs, with weekly key-working sessions to look at progress, helping you to stay engaged and focused on recovery goals. Doing motivational work can be key to recovery planning in these sessions, as you can continue to explore concerns, set meaningful goals, review progress and build confidence.
Treatment at Ocean Recovery is about collaboration, finding what works for you and trying to instil belief so that you make positive changes, as it can’t be done for you.
Our Rehab Facilities
We’re extremely proud of our state-of-the-art recovery facilities. They provides a space for residents to have the most relaxing stay possible while still receiving the support they need.
Ocean Recovery Facilities include:
CQC Registered
FREE Transportation Included
Medically Assisted Detoxification
Comfortable Communal Lounge
Beautiful Modern Dining Lounge
External Courtyard and Outside Seating Area
12 Months FREE Aftercare
Regular Contact with Loved Ones Encouraged
Double or Single Bedrooms
Rooms with Ensuite Bathrooms
Lounge Areas with Sky TV and a Piano
Nutritious Dining Facilities and an Outdoor Courtyard
Images of Our Facilities
Give Us A Call
Speak to an advisor today to find out more about the rehabilitation programmes we offer at our drug and alcohol rehab centre
Motivational Interviewing Alongside Other Therapies
Motivational therapy as part of addiction treatment at Ocean Recovery will work alongside many other forms of therapies. It helps with improving your overall engagement with recovery efforts, whilst other therapies focus on confronting specific behaviour patterns and learning coping skills.
Therapies you may participate in with motivational interviewing include:
- DBT
- CBT
- Schema Therapy
- Group Therapy
- Trauma-informed care
- Psychoeducation
- Relapse prevention
- HRV sessions
Meet the team
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John Gillen
DirectorEuropean Pioneer of NAD+ Therapy John has travelled extensively around…
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John Gillen
European Pioneer of NAD+ Therapy
John has travelled extensively around the world, culminating in 19 years’ experience looking at different models. He is the European pioneer of NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) treatment to Europe in 2010; and recently back from the USA bringing state of the art Virtual Reality Relapse Prevention and stress reduction therapy. His passion extends to other metabolic disturbances and neurodegenerative diseases. The journey continues. In recent times, John has travelled to Russia to study and research into a new therapy photobiomudulation or systemic laser therapy working with NAD+ scientists and the very best of the medical professionals in the UK and the USA, together with Nadcell, Bionad Hospitals own select Doctors, nurses, dieticians and therapists. Johns’ passion continues to endeavour to bring to the UK and Europe new developments with NAD+ Therapy in preventive and restorative medicine and Wellness. In 2017 John Gillen was made a visiting Professor at the John Naisbitt university in Belgrade Serbia. -
Madissar Iqbal
Operations ManagerMadissar has a wealth of experience in a managerial position…
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Madissar Iqbal
Madissar has a wealth of experience in a managerial position within substance misuse for over 20 years, working with offending behaviour and criminal justice. Madissar began his career as a prison officer in 2000 and progressed further in the substance misuse field within the prison settings delivering various short duration programmes and linking prisoners to community-based treatment providers before their release. In 2006 Madissar successfully managed to set up the Drug Intervention Programme within Bedfordshire. This later transpired to successfully securing a service manager role and developing the Drug Rehabilitation Requirement Order. Madissar successfully secured various managerial positions within the substance misuse field with joint partnership working with Integrated Offender Management and police in reducing drug-related offending behaviour. Madissar gained extensive experience and expertise working for several organisations, such as Adapt, Rapt, Addaction, Westminster Drug Project, Hertfordshire Couty Council, NHS and Next Step Support. Madissar holds a diploma in level 5 Leadership and Management and has extensive experience in the senior managerial role. Madissar passion lies in supporting services to achieve their goals and objectives. In the last two years, Madissar progressed further in mental health as a senior managerial role, overseeing residential rehabilitation and supporting living accommodations with adults (18+) with a range of diverse complex needs.
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Phil Grimes
Recovery WorkerPhil is an experienced and dedicated recovery worker; he has…
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Phil Grimes
Phil is an experienced and dedicated recovery worker; he has been at Ocean Recovery since 2016. He is passionate about helping others transform their lives, having spent 25 years in addiction himself. He has been clean and living his best life since 2008. He is an experienced group facilitator and qualified life coach who uses CBT, NLP and ACT mindfulness relapse prevention techniques, all of which he is qualified in. He has a wealth of experience, having worked with young offenders, homeless, prolific offenders, and complex mental health needs. Phil thrives in the recovery environment and is a passionate, forward-thinking and realistic member of the team.
Who May Benefit from Motivational Interviewing?
Motivational interviewing for drug or alcohol addiction may be helpful for some, but not everyone. It may be potentially beneficial when someone:
- Is uncertain about entering rehab
- Has mixed feelings about stopping
- Has tried treatment before
- Feels pressured by others to change
- Has low confidence
- Understands substance use is harmful but is unsure what to do next
- Struggle to remain engaged with recovery goals
Motivational Interviewing and Relapse Prevention
Even after completing treatment, motivation may not always remain high. Life intervenes, and the temptation is there to revert to old behaviours.
Motivational interviewing can help with relapse prevention because it helps you reconnect with your reasons for recovery. You can get better at recognising that your priorities change over time, find new things to motivate you and set manageable goals to keep up the feeling of progression.
Recovery will not be a straight line. Motivational interviewing can help you see change as non-linear, readying you for setbacks and using your internal motivation to engage more with practical coping strategies and support.
All this can make you more resilient in the harder moments and hopefully keep you on the journey towards long-term recovery.
Start Addiction Treatment at Ocean Recovery Centre
You don’t need to have all the answers right now or your entire recovery path laid out before you. Asking for help shouldn’t be a last resort, so take the first steps and talk with someone about your concerns.
Get in touch with the team at Ocean Recovery today to discuss treatment confidentially and assess what support might be best for you.
John Gillen
- Author
- Last updated: October 20, 2026
John is one UK’s leading professionals in the addiction recovery industry. Pioneering new treatment techniques such as NAD+ and ongoing research into new therapy techniques such as systematic laser therapy, John is committed to providing the very best treatment for people throughout the UK and Europe. During his extremely busy schedule, John likes to regularly update our blog section with the latest news and trends in the industry to keep visitors to our site as well informed as possible on everything related to addiction treatment.
Dr. Olalekan Otulana
- Clinical Reviewer
- Last reviewed: October 20, 2026
Dr Otulana started practising as a doctor in 2000 and has been in the field of addiction for over a decade. He is an Advanced Practitioner Member of Addiction Professionals and holds a Part 1 Certificate in Clinical Psychopharmacology from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. He is excellent healthcare service professional with a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree from Cambridge University Judge Business School.
Visit Dr Otulana’s Social Profiles:
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/olalekanotulana
