Motivational Interviewing (MI)

• Expressing Empathy: Creating a non-judgmental, supportive environment where clients feel understood and accepted.
• Developing Discrepancy: Helping clients recognize the gap between their current behaviors and their broader goals or values, which enhances their motivation to change.
• Rolling with Resistance: Avoiding direct confrontation and instead working with client resistance to change by understanding their perspective and guiding them toward their own reasons for change.
• Supporting Self-Efficacy: Encouraging clients to believe in their ability to change by highlighting their strengths and past successes.

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Key Techniques in MI:

• Open-Ended Questions: Asking questions that invite clients to explore and articulate their thoughts and feelings about change.
• Reflective Listening: Echoing clients’ statements to show understanding and encourage deeper exploration of their motivations.
• Affirmations: Providing positive reinforcement to acknowledge clients’ efforts and strengths.
• Summarizing: Recapping key points of the conversation to reinforce clients’ motivation and commitment to change.
• Change Talk: Eliciting and reinforcing clients’ statements about their desire, ability, reasons, and need for change.