SUBSTANCE USE & MISUSE Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 331–343, 2004 The Case for High-Dose Motivational Enhancement Therapy Douglas L. Polcin, * Gantt P. Galloway, James Palmer, and William Mains Haight Ashbury Free Clinics Research, Education, and Training, San Francisco, California, USA ABSTRACT Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is a brief therapy for treating substance use-related problems that draws upon the stages of the change model of Prochaska et al. (1992) and the clinical techniques of Motivational Interviewing (MI) Miller et al. (1992). Studies have shown that MET is effective in improving motivation for change and decreasing substance use. However, comparison of MET with more intensive treatment is limited and no studies have compared the standard low dose of MET with higher doses of MET. This article makes the case for a higher dose model. The rationale for the more *Correspondence: Douglas L. Polcin, Ed.D., Research Psychologist, Haight Ashbury Free Clinics Research, Education, and Training, 612 Clayton St., San Francisco, CA 94117, USA; Fax: (415) 487-3678; E-mail: dpolcin@hafci.org. 331 DOI: 10.1081/JA-120028494 1082-6084 (Print); 1532-2491 (Online) Copyright & 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com