Is Motivational Interviewing CBT?

Is Motivational Interviewing CBT?
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Key Takeaways: 

  • The Power of Therapy for Mental Health: Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, trauma, and personality disorders affect over 60 million U.S. adults. Therapy is proven to be highly effective — benefiting 75% of those who participate — by addressing root causes, reshaping thought patterns, and strengthening brain function and emotional health. 
  • CBT vs. Motivational Interviewing: While both are cognitive-based talk therapies, they differ in focus. Motivational Interviewing (MI) helps individuals explore their ambivalence toward change and build intrinsic motivation, while Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches how to identify and reframe negative thought patterns to improve emotions and behaviors. 
  • Other Effective Therapies: In addition to CBT and MI, several other psychotherapies offer specialized benefits, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for emotional regulation, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for mindfulness and value-driven change, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for trauma and PTSD recovery. 
  • Finding the Right Help at Aliya Mental Health: Licensed professionals — including psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists — provide expert psychotherapy at Aliya Mental Health’s treatment centers across the country. Their compassionate, outcome-based care helps individuals begin recovery and build lasting mental wellness. 

 Question: 

Is motivational interviewing CBT?

Answer: 

Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are distinct yet synergistic forms of psychotherapy that serve different roles in the change-process. MI is designed for individuals who feel stuck or ambivalent—those who may question, “Why should I change?” or lack the confidence or clarity to act. Through open-ended questions, affirmation, reflective listening and summary feedback (the OARS model), MI helps clients uncover their own internal motivation, clarify change goals, and begin shifting toward readiness. CBT, by contrast, takes over once motivation is present and focuses squarely on the “how”—how thoughts influence feelings and behaviors, how to recognize cognitive distortions, and how to reframe thinking into healthier patterns and actionable behavior. Together, these therapies form a continuum: MI often serves as a primer to increase engagement and readiness, followed by CBT to translate commitment into cognitive and behavioral change.

Introduction to Mental Health Treatment

Mental health challenges remain a pressing and prevalent issue across the country, affecting millions every day.  

In 2024, 23.4% of adults — more than 60 million people — had some form of any mental illness in the U.S., according to advocacy group Mental Health America (MHA), where conditions like depression, anxiety, trauma or personality disorders can affect anyone from any background. And more than one in 20 adults experiences serious mental illnesses each year.  

But data also shows just how effective therapy can be in changing your mental health. Seventy-five percent of people who pursue psychotherapy benefit from it in a host of ways. Through therapy, you can begin to understand the underlying root causes of your mental health and empower yourself to make positive changes in your mindset. And when your psychological well-being improves, so do your emotions and behaviors in ways you may have never imagined. MHA also notes how continued therapy can also make tangible, positive cognitive changes to the brain and strengthen its neurological connections. 

One challenging part about seeking therapy, however, is not knowing which one might suit you best. As you begin exploring your options, you’ll likely encounter a multitude of acronyms, like CBT, DBT, EMDR, ACT, MI and others.  

Two of these, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), are often mentioned together. Some of their approaches and traits sometimes overlap with each other. This understandably leads to a question many people new to treatment may have: Is motivational interviewing CBT? 

How do they differ, but how are they similar? Read on to find out more about CBT vs motivational interviewing and which one may be best for you. 

Is Motivational Interviewing CBT?     

Although they’re related as types of cognitive talk therapies, CBT and MI are distinctly different. Motivational interviewing is designed to help those who may be uncertain or hesitant about change.  

The motivational aspect of MI is meant to encourage you to find your own reasons to want to change — not to feel forced into it — on your own terms. MI can help by: 

  • Helping you to see that change is possible if you’re feeling stuck or stagnant about the possibility 
  • Renewing your confidence and belief in yourself that you’re able to set goals in life and make them happen 
  • Examining your reasons for wanting to change, especially for people with little motivation or drive 
  • Clarifying how the benefits of making healthier choices in life can be a priority for you 

 

By finding your inherent, intrinsic motivations — that the change you envision in your life must come from within — you can resolve mixed feelings and begin developing the confidence and commitment to take action on your own terms.  

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? 

CBT is one of the most common types of talk therapy in clinical psychology that concentrates on reconciling the relationship between your cognition and behaviors.   

Psychoanalyst Aaron Beck developed CBT in the 1960s, hypothesizing that psychological and mental health issues are rooted in unhelpful modes of thinking (called cognitive distortions) and learned patterns of acting.  

Think about someone who suffers from depression. It can cast a pessimistic shadow over their mindset, leading them to feel sad, hopeless or worthless. Their behavior may mirror these thoughts and emotions, whether it’s estranging themselves from the people or activities they once loved, changes in sleep or appetite or other symptoms. 

CBT teaches us that these patterns can be reversed for the better. If you can learn to recognize problematic thoughts and look at them objectively, you can empower yourself to challenge and reframe them on a more positive track. And when your mindset is healthier, you’ll feel better about yourself and act in positive ways for yourself and toward others. Plus, when existing mental health symptoms arise, CBT shows us new ways to cope with them. 

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What’s the Difference Between CBT and Motivational Interviewing?   

CBT vs MI is less a competition and more of two types of therapies that complement each other. Still, it’s helpful to know how CBT and MI distinguish themselves from each other: 

Motivational Interviewing MI presents you with the question, “Why should I change?” But it can be difficult to arrive at an answer when mental health issues create ambivalence — that state of mixed feelings or contradictory ideas we may all feel from time to time.  

For instance, you may be depressed or suffer from a panic disorder but believe your mental health will always remain that way, and that there’s nothing you can do about it. You may doubt your ability to turn your life around and develop better behaviors. Or you might be skeptical about trying therapy or wanting to stop a behavior that also provides some form of comfort. Consider how someone might feel comfortable or secure when suffering from depression; the constant lows or withdrawal from places and people can become so familiar that they can become reluctant to the thought of changing their situation. A person with bipolar disorder may feel a sense of control in their mood swings, justifying their manic highs if they coincide with periods of greater productivity or creativity.  

MI is designed to guide you through these types of internal conflicts and cognitive dissonances and evaluate them objectively and without judgment. Most importantly, it helps you build the desire and commitment to change as an answer to that initial “Why?”.  

CBT: What to Know 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on how you can change — how you have the power to make tangible, positive changes to your mindset, emotions and behaviors. “CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists,” says the American Psychological Association (APA). How does this work?  

Through CBT, changing your cognitive perspective and developing new skills to cope in difficult, triggering moments also helps you to gain more confidence in yourself, notes the APA. 

The therapeutic dynamics between CBT vs motivational interviewing also differ. In MI therapy, your therapist will utilize several Motivational Interviewing techniques meant to help you arrive at your own conclusions about wanting to change. They’ll do this using the OARS model: 

  • Open-ended questions: Your therapist will ask Motivational Interviewing questions that can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” This encourages you to explore and elaborate on your thoughts and feelings. Example: “What’s your biggest challenge or fear about making a change?” 
  • Affirmations: These are sincere statements that recognize your strengths, efforts and positive qualities, meant to build rapport and self-confidence. Example: “I admire the courage and bravery it took to come to therapy.” 
  • Reflective listening: By carefully listening and mirroring your words back at you, your therapist demonstrates that they’re being attentive, paying attention to your needs and that you’re being understood and heard. It enables you to explore more. Example: “You’ve painted such a vivid picture of that traumatic experience from so long ago. How does it make you feel talking about it today?” 
  • Summaries: A final part of OARS, your therapist will pull together key points of the day’s session to reinforce the conversation and minimize ambivalence. Example: “Let me see if I understand correctly. Can you describe again …?” 

 

In CBT therapy, your therapist will help you talk through and examine unhelpful thought patterns that may be contributing to a mental health condition. Take an honest, objective look at them and reflect on how they tend to affect your emotions and actions. Are they realistic? From there, you’ll learn insights and mental techniques to reevaluate and unlearn those negative thoughts and behaviors for newer, healthier ones.   

For many of these reasons, it’s not uncommon for many people in recovery to first start with motivational interviewing sessions to understand that why and spark their motivation to make positive life changes, then moving on to CBT to begin learning how to make them happen. 

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How Does Psychotherapy Help with Mental Health and Addiction?  

Just like physical therapy can help the body recover after an injury or surgery, psychotherapy enables the mind and heart to heal. It’s a stepping stone and a path forward to recovering from mental health issues — a safe, embracing space to talk through your challenges with a therapist and begin to take steps toward recovery.  

The benefits of mental health therapy are myriad and varied and can truly transform your life. You’ll be able to: 

  • Gain new insights into your psyche and mental health, understanding the underlying reasons and root causes behind your thoughts, feelings and behaviors 
  • Process and make peace with traumatic memories and experiences to reduce their emotional charge 
  • Prevent cravings and your risk of relapse if substance abuse has played a role in your life 
  • Learn coping skills for day-to-day life to manage stress, remain centered and non-reactive in triggering situations and better regulate your emotions 
  • Improve relationships by learning better communication and interpersonal skills, plus learn how to better resolve conflicts 
  • Find purpose and meaning in life, reconnecting with people and activities that mental health challenges may have pushed aside 

 

List of Popular Psychotherapies  

In addition to Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, some other therapies are popular and widely used in mental health treatment:  

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)  

Dialectical Behavior Therapy is most often geared toward people with emotional dysregulation — a great inability to manage or regulate them in everyday situations. It’s a common treatment type where this dysregulation is often a symptom of borderline personality disorder, where mood swings, reckless behaviors and unhealthy relationships can coincide with experiencing emotions very starkly and strongly.   

If the C in CBT stands for Cognitive, what does the D in DBT represent? Dialectical means opposing ideas, and in the context of DBT therapy, it represents two concepts: acceptance and change. It involves helping you change disordered modes of thought, feeling and action by learning to accept who you are, without reservation or judgment, and promise to make the changes you want to see in becoming a better version of you. 

DBT teaches skills in four areas: 

  1. Mindfulness (staying present) 
  2. Distress tolerance (getting through crises without making things worse) 
  3. Emotion regulation (understanding and managing emotions) 
  4. Interpersonal effectiveness (communicating needs and maintaining relationships) 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) 

Another cognitive therapy that also centers on acceptance of what is and changing what you’d like to see is ACT. In many mental health conditions, like trauma disorders, it’s often our natural tendency to either push away painful memories or struggle to process or reconcile them. “I’m unlovable, and that’s the way it will always be” or “I know I messed up that presentation at work, and everyone thinks I’m incompetent” are common refrains repeated when struggling with depression or social anxiety disorder. 

ACT teaches you to accept these negative thoughts and efforts as a natural part of being human. It’s OK to think or feel this way, even if it doesn’t bring out the best in us. ACT therapy teaches a number of ideals that help you detach from this negativity and embrace newer, more positive future goals. Mindfulness is a core component — you’ll begin to perceive yourself fully and completely, without barriers or preconceptions. Then, after creating a list of changes you’d like to make, you can commit to them guided by your personal values. 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)  

EMDR is a type of psychotherapy primarily used to treat people to heal from trauma and PTSD. IT works on a principle called Adaptive Information Processing, which theorizes that during upsetting or traumatic moments, the brain can file away trauma in ways that don’t facilitate proper healing or processing. It’s one reason why trauma is often repressed or buried in the psyche and may manifest itself in unexpected ways, triggered months, years or decades later when left untreated.  

How does EMDR help? It uses a technique called bilateral stimulation, where you’ll focus on a traumatic memory while following — side to side, slowly, with your eyes — your therapist’s fingers, a pen, light pointer or other object (similar to methods you’d see in hypnosis). It’s believed that these eye movements can make the recalling of one’s trauma much easier, prompting your brain’s natural healing system to reprocess the memory and make it less vivid, distressing and emotionally charged, over time. 

Who Offers CBT and Motivational Interviewing?  

CBT and Motivational Interviewing are clinical treatments that require extensive expertise and licensing for a practitioner. Mental health professionals qualified to administer both therapies include: 

  • Psychiatrists  
  • Psychologists 
  • Licensed Professional Counselors  
  • Licensed Clinical Social Workers  
  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists 

 

Aliya Mental Health’s team members include compassionate and caring clinicians from each of these backgrounds whose goal is to make your recovery a reality. They’re your mental health advocates and personal champions who can help you navigate the path of treatment — whether it’s CBT, MI or other therapies — easily and successfully.   

Finding Professional Psychotherapy Near Me 

Making the decision to enter mental health treatment indicates bravery, courage, accountability and personal responsibility. But where do you seek it? Aliya Mental Health is proud to offer treatment facilities in five locations accessible to where you live, in California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and Nevada.   

Seeking information about treatment and how to get started is even easier. Our admissions specialists are available, 24/7/365, including holidays, to answer your questions about mental health treatment, cognitive therapy, the assessment and diagnostic process, your experience in therapy and beyond. They can also verify your insurance coverage and calculate what treatment may cost. 

By getting in touch today, you can start your journey — and because we meet you where you are, our pledge is to see you through to recovery. Contact us today, either by calling, emailing or requesting a call or text back.  

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