Category: MI Core Skills

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...

Reflections are probably the most fundamental skill to learn if you are using a client-centered counseling approach. However, there are many other MI skills that complement reflections and are used throughout the 4 processes of MI. And the one we are focusing on today is not only used throughout all...

How many of you know people who do everything their doctor tells them to, no questions asked, just because “they’re the doctor”? Even in less extreme situations, most interactions in healthcare settings have a flavor of that dynamic where the provider or counselor is the expert and the patient or...

In Motivational Interviewing, whenever we open a conversation, share information, or ask questions of our clients, a respectful way to do this is by Asking for Permission. In addition, when speaking with a client, we want to focus on using autonomy-supportive language as much as possible. When our communication has...

Affirmations are used when we acknowledge and recognize an individual’s strengths and effort; where the statements we say to a client matter to them and are genuine. Affirmations are not praise like “good job” but rather, they are very specific about how a client has perhaps persevered, or prioritized making...

Reflective listening is another effective communication technique, and is often considered the most important, because the counselor uses statements and not questions to make sure the client knows and feels that you understand them…both how they are feeling and/or what they are saying. This technique also keeps the conversation going...

When we think about Motivational Interviewing and addressing the common issue of ambivalence, and how best to support the client in creating the change they want in their lives, the first place we often start is by seeing if their current behaviors are aligned with their values and goals. As...

One way to assess how important changing a behavior is to the client is to ask them using an Importance Ruler. This ruler invites the client to rate their level of perceived importance on a scale (Butler, Rollnick, Cohen, Russell, Bachmann, & Scott, 1999). The scale typically ranges from 0...

When motivational interviewing was initially introduced, it was a way to support clients who perhaps didn’t recognize the importance of changing a behavior. For example, in the case of problem drinking the clinician was oftentimes more aware of the importance. Another situation where MI can be helpful is the situation...

Summaries are the last of the 4 core Motivational Interviewing skills. Summaries are pulling together several things the client has told you and offering it back to them. In the early processes of MI, summaries provide an opportunity for the client to know that you have been listening carefully and...

Whether the clinician is supporting the client in building confidence or maintaining confidence, it is important to remember to start with having the client look within to find their own strengths and solutions. It can be very easy for a clinician to want to help and offer suggestions, but for...

Throughout our recent blogs, we have been taking a look at the importance of confidence and the role it plays in behavior change.  We reviewed many strategies to strengthen confidence and discussed how best to respond to confidence talk when it is being expressed by the client. Another key element...