Motivational interviewing · Hopkins, Minnesota
Motivational Interviewing Therapy in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Motivational interviewing and motivational enhancement therapy in Minneapolis, used inside outpatient addiction and mental health treatment to help you find your own reasons to change.
Northwoods Haven Recovery uses motivational interviewing (MI) throughout outpatient addiction and mental health treatment for adults across Minneapolis and the Twin Cities, from our center in Hopkins. It is the conversational method your counselor uses in individual sessions and in group, and it is why nobody here will lecture you or tell you what you should want.
In-network with Minnesota Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield, HealthPartners, UnitedHealthcare, and Medica
Motivational interviewing
Your reasons, not ours. Ambivalence is where the work begins.
Mixed feelings are normal
It is where treatment starts.
Most people arrive with mixed feelings about stopping. That is not a problem to fix first. It is where treatment starts.
Both
Used in IOP and the Relapse Prevention Program
2 to 4
Months in IOP, then the Relapse Prevention Program step-down
18+
Adults, including young adults
0
Nights away from home. Every level of care here is outpatient
What motivational interviewing is
A way of talking about change that does not push
Motivational interviewing is a counseling method developed by psychologists William Miller and Stephen Rollnick, first for people with drinking problems and later for almost any behavior a person feels two ways about. Its starting point is simple: people are more likely to change when the reasons come from their own mouths. So instead of persuading or confronting, the counselor asks open questions, listens closely, reflects back what you said, and notices the moments when you talk about wanting things to be different.
MI works through four overlapping processes: engaging, where you and your counselor build enough trust to be honest; focusing, where you agree on what you want to talk about; evoking, where the counselor draws out your own arguments for change rather than making them for you; and planning, where a wish becomes a concrete next step. Underneath all four is what MI calls the spirit of the method: partnership rather than authority, acceptance, compassion, and the belief that the wisdom about your life lives in you.
At Northwoods Haven Recovery, motivational interviewing is the voice of the whole program. Your licensed alcohol and drug counselor uses it in individual counseling to work through the ambivalence that shows up early, and again when a hard week shakes your commitment. Group facilitators use it to keep group a place where people speak freely rather than defend themselves. The same approach carries into how we talk about co-occurring depression, anxiety, trauma, or ADHD.
How it fits here
Motivational interviewing runs inside group and individual counseling at both levels of care. You do not choose one therapy over another. Your counselor teaches MI, CBT, DBT skills, and acceptance and commitment therapy as your plan calls for them.
Our space
Inside our outpatient treatment center in Hopkins, Minnesota
A safe haven should feel like one. Our suite on Green Oak Drive looks out over water and trees, and the rooms where groups meet were built to feel calm, comfortable, and homey. Not clinical, not institutional. You are more than your diagnosis here, and the space is meant to say so before anyone does.
The lounge
Where people land and catch their breath before group.
The group room
Three hours a day, in a circle, with people who understand.
The view
Water and treeline out every window: the northwoods, in the metro.
Another Group Room
Three hours a day, in a circle, with people who understand.
Quiet corners
Somewhere to sit with a thing before you say it out loud.
Room to breathe
Daylight and treeline out every window. No clinical fluorescence.
What a session looks like
What motivational interviewing sounds like in the room
You will not be handed a worksheet of reasons to quit. You will be asked good questions and heard when you answer them.
Skill
Open questions and reflections
Your counselor asks questions that cannot be answered with yes or no, then reflects back what you said, sometimes with the meaning underneath it, so you hear your own thinking out loud.
Practice
Working with ambivalence
Part of you wants to stop and part of you does not. Both parts get a voice. Naming the pull in each direction, without being rushed, tends to loosen the stalemate rather than tighten it.
Mindset
Change talk
When you say something like I am tired of this or I could probably manage a weekend without it, your counselor notices, asks more, and helps you build on it. Those sentences are the raw material of change.
Homework
From wanting to planning
When you are ready, and not before, the conversation turns practical: what you will try this week, what might get in the way, and how you will know it worked. You set the step.
What it helps with
What motivational interviewing helps with, and what the research says
Motivational interviewing was built for the situation most people are in when they first call: they know something is wrong, they are not sure they want to stop, and they are braced for a lecture. It suits alcohol and drug use of every kind, people who came because of a DUI, a court order, or a spouse’s ultimatum, and the early weeks when commitment wobbles. It also helps with following through on mental health care and sticking with a plan once the first burst of resolve fades.
Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is a brief, structured adaptation of MI, usually about four sessions, that adds one ingredient: personalized feedback from your assessment. The counselor shows you how your use, its consequences, and your risk factors compare with what is typical, then uses MI to help you make sense of that information rather than argue with it. MET was one of the treatments tested in Project MATCH, the large alcohol treatment study of the 1990s, where it held up well against longer therapies. Here, the MET style is most visible right after your chemical use assessment, when your counselor walks you through what it found.
The evidence for MI is broad and consistent: it improves the odds that people start treatment, stay in it, and reduce their use, and it works well as the opening of a longer course of care alongside skills-based therapies like CBT. Its limits are equally clear. MI builds commitment; it is not a set of coping skills, so it does not by itself teach you how to ride out a craving. That is why it is paired here with CBT, DBT skills, and relapse prevention work. Motivation opens the door; the skills work is what you do once you walk through it.
Combined with
Motivational interviewing builds the willingness. Cognitive behavioral therapy builds the skills to act on it: spotting the thoughts that lead to a drink or a dose and rehearsing what to do instead. Almost everyone here gets both.
Who it is for
Motivational interviewing is probably right for you if you
- Know your use is a problem but are honestly unsure whether you want to stop, or stop completely
- Came because of a DUI, a court order, a job, or a partner, and resent being told what to do
- Have started treatment before and quit early because it felt like being talked at
- Want a counselor who will be honest with you about the risks without arguing with you about them
- Are also living with depression, anxiety, trauma, or ADHD and want that work to move at a pace you agree to
Not sure yet
A comprehensive assessment answers it.
You do not pick motivational interviewing off a menu. A chemical use assessment with a licensed alcohol and drug counselor determines your diagnosis, its severity, and the level of care that fits, here or somewhere better suited to you. MI is part of how every plan here is delivered. If you already have a recent assessment, send it over and we will review it instead of repeating it.
For families
About half our calls are from someone else.
You can ask a question without committing anyone to anything, and family involvement is part of the work when the client wants it.
How it shows up
Where motivational interviewing appears at each step of care
MI is not a phase you complete. It is the way your counselor talks with you from the first assessment question through the last relapse prevention session.
Step one
Chemical use assessment
An honest conversation with a licensed counselor about your use and its consequences, with personalized feedback on what it shows. This is where the MET style is clearest: information offered, not imposed.
Where everyone starts
Most people start here
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
Individual counseling uses MI to work through early ambivalence and set your own goals. Group facilitators use it to keep every voice welcome, including the doubtful ones.
Explore IOP →
Then
Relapse Prevention Program
Ten to twelve weeks with the same counselors. When a slip shakes your resolve, MI is how the conversation gets back to what you want rather than what you failed at. Your written plan reflects your reasons.
Explore relapse prevention →
Therapies
Evidence-based addiction therapies, taught as options, not prescriptions.
We’ll walk you through every approach we use and why, then build your plan around the ones that fit your beliefs and your life. No single pathway, no ideology, no judgment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Find the thought patterns that drive use, and learn to interrupt them.
Dialectical behavior therapy
Skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and hard relationships.
Acceptance & commitment therapy
Move toward what you actually value, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Motivational interviewing
Your reasons for changing, in your words. Nobody lectures you here.
Individual counseling
Your own licensed counselor, where the plan gets built and adjusted.
Group therapy
Three hours a day with people who know the terrain you’re crossing.
Addiction counseling
One-on-one counseling with your own chemical dependency counselor.
Trauma-informed care
Care that accounts for what happened to you, not what’s wrong with you.
Relapse prevention and aftercare planning run through every level of care rather than sitting off to the side, and whole-person care means mental health psychoeducation happens alongside all of it.
Therapies
Evidence-based therapies we use, taught as options
Seven approaches, one plan built with you. Your counselor teaches you what each one does and you decide what belongs in your recovery lifestyle.
Catch the thought that comes before the drink or the drug, test it, and practice a different move before Friday.
Skills for intense emotion, urges, and relationships: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness.
Make room for the craving or the feeling without acting on it, and build a life around what you value.
Find your own reasons to change, at your own pace. Includes motivational enhancement therapy, the structured short form.
The same people each session, so accountability is real. Where most of the traction in outpatient treatment comes from.
Every group and session run on predictability, choice, and safety, because most people carry something older than the substance.
Mental health, relationships, work, and purpose treated as one picture, with a recovery lifestyle you define.
You do not choose a therapy from a menu. Your counselor teaches you all of them as options and the plan uses what works for you.
Assessments and services
Assessments and services that get you into the right care
Everything begins with an assessment. These are the services around our two levels of outpatient care.
The hour that turns a worry into a diagnosis and a level of care. Where everyone starts.
A clinical evaluation for Minnesota DWI court, probation, and licensing requirements, with written documentation.
Individual counseling with your own licensed alcohol and drug counselor, inside every level of care here.
Paying for treatment
Insurance-covered addiction treatment that's accessible to anyone who wants it.
Medicaid was the first network we joined, on purpose. We’re also in-network with major commercial plans. We’ll verify your benefits and tell you plainly what your plan covers before you commit to anything.
Minnesota Medicaid
Blue Cross Blue Shield
HealthPartners
UnitedHealthcare
Medica
Hennepin Health
Private pay accepted
Not listed? Call and we'll check.
Common questions
Questions people ask about motivational interviewing
If yours is not here, ask us directly. We would rather tell you honestly that we are not the right fit than have you find out later.
LegitScript Certified
Verified addiction treatment provider
Is motivational interviewing the same as motivational enhancement therapy?
No, though they are closely related. Motivational interviewing is a counseling style used throughout treatment. Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is a brief, structured version, usually about four sessions, that adds personalized feedback from your assessment. At Northwoods Haven Recovery, MI runs through everything, and the MET approach is most visible when your counselor reviews your assessment results with you.
Does motivational interviewing actually work for addiction?
Yes. Decades of research show that MI helps people enter treatment, stay in it, and reduce their drinking or drug use, especially when it opens a longer course of care that also teaches coping skills. It was developed for alcohol problems and has since been studied across most substances. It is not a stand-alone fix, which is why it is paired here with CBT and DBT skills.
What if I am not sure I want to quit?
That is exactly the situation motivational interviewing was designed for. Your counselor will not argue you into a decision. You will talk honestly about what your use gives you and what it costs, and the direction you choose comes from that conversation. How you work your recovery is yours to define.
Will my counselor confront me or tell me I am in denial?
No. Confrontation is the opposite of motivational interviewing, and it does not work. Your counselor will be direct about risks and honest about what the assessment shows, but the tone is partnership, not judgment. If you push back, that is information, not a fight to win.
How many sessions of motivational interviewing will I have?
It is not counted in sessions, because it is not a separate module. MI is how your counselor works with you in individual counseling and group throughout the Intensive Outpatient Program, about two to four months, and the Relapse Prevention Program, ten to twelve weeks. The MET-style assessment feedback happens in your first sessions.
Is motivational interviewing used in group therapy too?
Yes. Group facilitators use MI to keep group a place where people can say what they actually think, including doubts about recovery, without being shouted down. You do not have to talk in group until you are ready, and nobody has to share their story on the first day.
I was ordered here by a court. Does this approach still apply to me?
Especially to you. Motivational interviewing was built for people who did not choose to be in the room. Your counselor knows the difference between showing up because you have to and wanting to be there, and works with where you actually are. Many people who arrive under a court order leave with reasons of their own.
Does insurance cover treatment that uses motivational interviewing?
Yes. MI is part of the outpatient treatment we provide, not a separate charge. Northwoods Haven Recovery is in-network with Minnesota Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield, HealthPartners, UnitedHealthcare, and Medica. Give us your plan information on the first call and we will verify your benefits.
Your team
Meet the counselors who answer the phone and guide your treatment.
Getting started
How to get started: four steps, no waiting eleven days.
Reaching out doesn’t commit you to anything. It means you asked a question, and we answered it.
01
Call
We listen to what’s going on and where you are in the process. No script, no pressure.
02
Chemical use assessment
A comprehensive assessment to determine diagnosis and the level of care that fits.
03
Referral to the right care
Ideally with us. If another program fits you better, we’ll connect you to it.
04
Intake
Programming starts immediately after intake. Already have an assessment? Send it over and we’ll review it.
Take the first step
When you're ready, we're here.
Reaching out doesn’t mean you’ve committed to anything. It means you’re asking a question, and we’ll answer it honestly, even if the answer points somewhere else.
100% confidential
Insurance verified fast
No commitment to ask
Outpatient only
Referring professionals
Send a comprehensive assessment, plus treatment plan reviews, discharge summary, med list, and insurance information if applicable. A list, not a portal.
Visit us in Hopkins
Northwoods Haven Recovery
5900 Green Oak Drive, Ste 306
Hopkins, MN 55343