Using Motivational Interviewing to Increase Retention in Supported Education

Abstract

Individuals who experience a psychiatric disability experience much higher dropout rates in postsecondary education programs than do those in the broader population. Supported education (SEd) was developed to provide intensive assistance to individuals with psychiatric disabilities in order to help them stay enrolled in classes and obtain educational goals. Although initial SEd outcome studies have yielded encouraging findings, there are still retention issues within SEd programs. Even participants who succeed in obtaining a postsecondary degree through SEd often cycle through the program many times before finding success. This article introduces motivational interviewing (MI) as an intervention that has the potential to increase retention in SEd programs and increase the number of individuals with psychiatric disabilities who complete a postsecondary education.