Toward a universal Maintenance Intervention: Integrating Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment With Motivational Interviewing for Maintenance of Behavior Change

Improvements in behavior following active interventions diminish over time across a broad spectrum of behaviors. Motivational interviewing (MI) has been found to increase intrinsic motivation for initial behavior change, but there has been little discussion on how to integrate MI and the cognitive-behavioral treatments (CBTs) commonly used to maintain change. A prominent CBT approach to relapse prevention that has been tested in multiple behavioral domains includes the following maintenance strategies: managing the goal violation effect, flexible goal setting, identifying triggers and developing coping skills, and increasing self-efficacy and social support. Using a model of integration where MI is the foundation for CBT delivery, the integration of specific relational and technical components of MI and CBT strategies for maintenance of change are described. A universal maintenance intervention that uses MI as an integrative framework to deliver CBT may address maintenance of behavior change across multiple behavioral domains. Further research is necessary to confirm whether delivering MI with fidelity adds to the effectiveness of CBT maintenance interventions.