Processo motivacional na dependência química: o que motiva o dependente químico às mudanças?

Abstract

This work seeks to understand and improve the knowledge field about chemically dependent peoples motivation, identifying cognitive psychotherapy strategies focusing on motivation as a power able to reestablish specific stages of the change during the process of abstinence from drugs. In the modern world we deal with a significant growth of psychoactive substance consumption and the chemical dependency is a chronic mental disease which affects people regardless of their age, social-economic or intellectual level. What motivates a chemically dependent person to change? To answer this question is the objective of this work and for such task chemical dependency and motivation concepts are presented as well as identification of cognitive psychotherapy strategies as a possible intervention in the chemical dependent peoples dysfunctional behavior changing process in search for abstinence from drugs. The cognitive techniques used are presented based on the Motivational Interview approach, a theory which has contributed somewhat regarding chemical dependency and the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change. These are techniques which are efficient in ambivalence conflicts towards decision making and the search for a change in the chemically dependent person case study reported in this work.