Author Archives: Eunice Okumu

When a practitioner works with a client, the practitioner can significantly influence how much change talk (movement towards changing behavior) and sustain talk (movement towards maintaining current behavior) they will hear. And the difference is not when the practitioner is just being nice to the client, but rather, from strategic...

Of course, MI doesn’t just consist of theoretical constructs – it’s being used in ongoing studies and projects nationwide! Take a look at our MI in Action feature this week, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham: Carol Golin, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill and Steve Bradley-Bull, MEd, LPC, Motivational...

People often ask if there is a typical rhythm or flow to a Motivational Interviewing session…and the answer, of course, is yes and no. Yes, there is a “method” to MI explained through 4 processes (Engaging, Focusing, Evoking, and Planning) which are often sequential. And no, because even though these...

This Spring, Carol Golin, MD, Kemi Amola, PhD, and Steve Bradley-Bull, LPC, all Motivational Interviewing specialists from the UNC Center for AIDS Research Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Core went to Charlotte, North Carolina to offer a two day training titled: Motivational Interviewing and Medication Adherence: A Person-Centered Approach to...

Last month, we discussed the first process of motivational interviewing (MI), Engaging. This month, we will be focusing on Focusing, the second process of MI.  After a basic foundation of engagement has been established, Focusing is guided by the clinician in order to develop and maintain a specific direction in the...

For the next several months, we will “go back to the basics” and explore the four core motivational interviewing skills: Open questions, Affirmations, Reflective listening, and Summaries (OARS). Again, we will collaborate with the client and utilize these foundational skills for mutual understanding. An open question is one that allows the...

We continue our series on the 4 processes of Motivational Interviewing… Engaging, Focusing, Evoking, and Planning. This month, we will focus on the third process, Evoking. We have talked about creating a therapeutic relationship (Engaging) and establishing a clear focus for the session (Focusing) and now we move to Evoking,...

Last week, we discussed the second Motivational Interviewing process, Focusing. Again, the process of Focusing is finding a direction and then working towards very specific achievable goals. This sounds simple, but obtaining focus can be difficult in practice. Here is one strategy and an associated tool to help in the...

There have been many definitions offered of Motivational Interviewing. Most of them are very similar, and generally, have the same basic components. The definition I prefer to use is one offered by the founders, Bill Miller and Stephen Rollnick: Motivational Interviewing is a person-centered counseling style for addressing the common...

The last of the 4 MI processes is Planning. After you have engaged with the client, established a focus, and evoked the client’s own motivations for change, it is time to begin Planning. This is where the client is moving from talking about why he or she wants to change...

For anyone wanting to make a behavior change in their life, it is likely that they will need to resolve ambivalence around the advantages and disadvantages of making a change. This is a normal process that almost everyone goes through in order to make a change and for the change...

The definition below gives us an all-encompassing overview of Motivational Interviewing. And at the same time, it can be overwhelming to implement without fully understanding all of the components. Motivational Interviewing is a person-centered counseling style for addressing the common problem of ambivalence about change. It is designed to strengthen...