# What is a Brief Intervention?
Brief intervention refers to a short, purposeful, collaborative conversation that enhances motivation and capacity to change risky behaviours such as problem gambling.
A brief intervention is non-confrontational and focuses on the small changes a person is willing to make.
The goals of a brief intervention are to:
- increase awareness of gambling patterns and risk level, as well as the connection between behaviours and related harms
- elicit the client to identify their own reasons to change and to create a plan to change their behaviours to stay within safe limits.
These conversations are typically only five to 15 minutes long.
WARNING
Brief interventions should not substitute treatment services for clients who are exhibiting a high level of problem gambling or other risky behaviours. They could be provided as clients are waiting for specialized services, but high-risk clients should be referred to treatment immediately (see Referral to Treatment).
# Stages of a Brief Intervention
A brief intervention can take many formats and can vary in terms of length and content.
The steps of a brief intervention proposed below are based on the Brief Negotiated Interview model developed by D’Onofrio, Bernstein, and Rollnick.
The brief negotiated interview is a semi-structured process informed by motivational interviewing principles. See Elements of a Brief Intervention for information about skills to consider when conducting a brief intervention.
A brief intervention consists of four key steps: