An Evaluation of Motivational Interviewing Based Treatment in a University Addiction Counseling Training Clinic

Abstract The purpose of the pilot study was to examine the effectiveness of a university-based addiction clinic where counseling students treat clients with Motivational Interviewing. Participants (N = 55) were college students referred for alcohol-related problems to an addiction counseling training clinic within a CACREP-accredited counseling program. In the clinic, counseling students screen for problematic drinking through the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and counsel clients with Motivational Interviewing. The authors examined AUDIT scores from the clinic archives and subjected the scores to paired sample t-tests and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests based on the normality of the subscales. The paired sample t-tests and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests both resulted in statistically significant decreases from pretreatment to post-treatment scores. The findings support the feasibility, preliminary design, and likelihood of positive results of future research that expands the parameters of our pilot study. Implications for research and counselors are discussed.