Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a counselling style for effecting behavior change, and for helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalance by evoking their personal motivations for change. Four microcounselling skills have been cited as important in M.I.:

(1) the ability to ask open-ended questions which assist clients to ex- plore the need for and possibility of change, supporting their autonomy; (2) the ability to provide affirmations which assist counselors in building rapport and supporting clients’ self- efficacy or confidence in their ability to master change, with personal strengths and prior successes being highlighted; (3) the capacity for active listening, which assists counselors to portray empathy and to guide clients towards making a change; and (4) the ability to provide summary statements to the client which communicate interest and understanding and draw atten- tion to important elements of the discussion.

Materials

• Stages of change - description of each of the stages and therapist tasks stepupprogram.org
• Information about motivational interviewing umass.edu archive.org
• Ten strategies for evoking change talk motivationalinterviewing.org archive.org
• Motivational interviewing skills tip sheet fdihb.org archive.org
• Listening for 'change talk' ccwjc.com archive.org
• Motivation interviewing strategies and techniques nova.edu archive.org
• Personal values card sort motivationalinterviewing.org archive.org

Information / Training / Lectures

• Motivational interviewing - training new trainers manual motivationalinterviewing.org archive.org
• Motivational interviewing - a practice from the heart (Antoine Douaihy) pitt.edu archive.org
• Motivational interviewing in primary health care youtube.com

Links

• MotivationalInterviewing.org has information and resources on M.I.

Key Papers

• Treasure, J. (2004). Motivational interviewing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 10, 331-337 rcpsych.org