Recruiting

Motivational Interviewing vs. Intake as Usual

Sponsor:

University of New Mexico

Code:

NCT05489068

Conditions

Substance-Related Disorders

Treatment Adherence

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Motivational Interviewing at Intake (MII)

Intake as Usual (IAU)

Study Details

Brief summary:

This K23 study is an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type I design to determine the effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing at Intake (MII), relative to intake-as-usual on client engagement and mechanisms of engagement among adults seeking outpatient addiction treatment. We also will obtain personnel feedback on the feasibility of implementing MII into standard practice by having personnel from the addiction treatment study sites complete implementation climate measures before Motivational Interviewing (MI) training and post-clinical trial, as well as an individual interview on implementation feasibility post-trial.

Conditions

Substance-Related Disorders

Treatment Adherence

Study ID

NCT05489068

Start date

Mar 16, 2022

Status verified date

Mar, 2026

Completion date

Dec 1, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Oct 1, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria (client participants):

  • English-speaking adults seeking treatment for alcohol or other drug use at one of two outpatient addiction treatment programs
  • Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
  • Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures
  • Physically withdrawn from alcohol or other drugs

Inclusion Criteria (personnel participants):

  • English-speaking adults currently employed at one of the two outpatient addiction treatment programs
  • Provision of electronic informed consent

Exclusion Criteria (client participants):

  • Experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms
  • Actively psychotic, manic, and/or suicidal

Exclusion Criteria (personnel participants):

  • current position: facility owner or clinical director

Study Design

Enrollment

150 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Health Services Research

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Motivational Interviewing at Intake (MII)

Clients allocated to the MII condition will receive a 90-minute pure Motivational Interviewing (MI) session.

active comparator: Intake as Usual (IAU)

Clients allocated to the IAU condition will receive the 90-minute standard assessment that is delivered to all clients entering intensive outpatient program (IOP)/outpatient program (OP).

Interventions

Motivational Interviewing at Intake (MII)

The MII will involve a goal-oriented and collaborative conversation about why the client wants treatment now, and how treatment might fit with his/her most important values. The provider will use open questions, reflective listening and autonomy support in a flexible, non-authoritative manner. Rather than asking specific questions in different life domains, the provider will explore with the client their desires, abilities, reasons, and needs for treatment, how treatment fits with their values, and what successful treatment looks like to them. The client's language about change will be strategically reinforced to increase its frequency and strength across the session.

Intake as Usual (IAU)

In line with the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) guidelines, the IAU condition involves a semi-structured interview of the client's psychosocial history and clients answer a series of questions in the following domains: support system, living situation, educational, occupational, family, and medical history.

Primary outcome measure

  • Number of participants who attended the first outpatient treatment program session based on electronic medical record review [ Time Frame: up to 36 weeks ]
  • Number of treatment sessions attended during the three-month outpatient treatment program based on electronic medical record review [ Time Frame: up to 36 weeks ]
  • Number of participants who completed the three-month outpatient treatment program based on electronic medical record review [ Time Frame: up to 36 weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Margo Hurlocker, PhD

(505) 596-0578mhurlocker@unm.edu

Locations

UNM Psychology Clinic

Recruiting

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, 87131

Contacts

Jane Smith

505-277-5165mhurlocker@unm.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of New Mexico

Last update posted

Mar 9, 2026

Last verified

Mar, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of New Mexico on 2026-03-09.