Readiness to change and training expectations prior to a training workshop for substance abuse clinicians

Understanding clinicians' readiness to change their clinical practice, as well as their training expectations prior to a clinical workshop, may be helpful for improving technology transfer in the substance user treatment field. This study aimed to explore both these areas prior to a workshop designed to offer a new clinical intervention for their practice. Fifty-four clinicians volunteered to participate in a Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT) workshop. Using negative binomial regression models, significant associations were found between clinicians' readiness to change and training expectations. Participants were found to be highly motivated to learn new technologies and highly endorsed notions of adopting elements of BCT into their practice. There was greater caution with regard to committing to adopt the full protocol. Exploring some of the obstacles in adopting new treatment approaches by even the most motivated of clinicians could be a fruitful area for future research.