William Richard Miller is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and founder of Motivational interviewing with Stephen Rollnick.
William Richard Miller[1] is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and affiliated with the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He joined the UNM faculty in 1976. He has taught a wide range of subjects, including courses on alcoholism and abnormal psychology, and seminars on positive psychology and on self-fulfilling prophecies. His primary scientific interest is in the psychology of change, but his research spans the treatment of addictive behaviors, self-regulation, spirituality and psychology, motivation for change, and pastoral psychology. He has been a visiting scholar at the Oregon Health Sciences University, the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, Stanford University, and the University of Bergen and the Hjellestad Clinic in Norway.
Miller has changed the way clinicians think about the nature of substance use disorders, their treatment and the means to effect change in patients. Early in his career, he emphasized that not all alcohol problems are severe and tested briefer interventions for mid-range problem drinkers.
He developed a behavioral self-control training program, successfully testing it with less dependent problem drinkers. A notable finding in this series of studies was that people working on their own using a self help book were on average as successful in moderating their drinking as those receiving outpatient counseling.
He has also written throughout his career on the interface of psychology with spirituality and religion.
Miller received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Oregon in 1976.[2]
He has been listed as one of the world's most highly cited scientists by the Institute for Scientific Information.[3]