ABSTRACT
Change is diffi cult. It’s hard for adults, let alone adolescents. It’s rare to fi nd teenagers who present with high motivation to change their substance use. When working with adolescents, professionals need to remember a simple fact: you cannot make a teenager change. If the adolescent is to change it will be because he or she becomes determined to change. Therefore, professionals working with youth need a good understanding of what does and does not work when it comes to enhancing motivation. In this chapter, an overview of Motivational Interviewing (MI) will be presented. MI is a well-researched, widely used strategy for motivating individuals in the area of goal-oriented change. Our aim is to equip professionals with a working understanding of the model and some basic information about the skills that will help motivate teenagers.
