Motivational Interviewing (MI) was originally a communication technique developed by the clinical psychologists William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick. The aim is to help individuals find the motivation to make positive decisions and accomplish established goals. It is most useful to address behaviors that are related to addiction, own self care for management of health conditions (eg diet and exercise) and to make lifestyle changes. The focus is on exploring and resolving any ambivalence to elicit a person’s own motivations for change.
Typical techniques of motivational interviewing:
Building a rapport with the client through reflective listening to understand their perspective(s).
Help the clients see the gap between their current behaviors and what their broader goals or values may be.
Avoid any direct confrontation – work with the individual’s resistance to any change so as to understand their perspective and reasons for hesitance.
Encourage the belief in the ability to change and highlighting past successes and strengths.
Give summaries of the discussion to show that the client has been listening and to help organize their thoughts.
Episode 58 of PodChatLive was on motivational interviewing:
External Links:
Motivational interviewing as an intervention to improve adherence behaviours for the prevention of diabetic foot ulceration (Podiatry Arena)
See:
https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2012/september/motivational-interviewing-techniques
Page last updated:
Comments are closed.