Motivational Interviewing Skills Blog: What is MI?

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a style of communication that involves helping people express their intrinsic motivations to make changes in their lives.  Even though MI was first developed and used in the field of substance abuse treatment, it is now a skill that has been adopted by physicians, nurses, teachers, police officers, and anyone else who may occasionally have conversations with people about the possibility of making some changes.  Rather than attempting to argue with or convince people to adopt new changes (like quitting smoking, reducing alcohol use, eating nutritious foods, etc.), Motivational Interviewing practitioners will provide opportunities for individuals to voice their own ideas about what is best for them.  This requires practitioners to calm their inner urge to solve problems and give unsolicited advice. 

Importantly, the practice of Motivational Interviewing relies on a few foundational concepts:

1.       People are generally ambivalent about making changes in their lives.  In other words, they often feel hesitant or torn about how to move forward.  More specifically, ambivalence means feeling at least two ways about something at the same time.  Commonly, we hear people say things like this, as an expression of ambivalence:

·         I know I should quit smoking, but every time I try, I fail.

·         I want to be healthy, but all of my favorite foods are bad for me. 

·         I know It’s important to do my homework, but I’m too tired after football practice.

2.       People are more likely to resolve their ambivalence about change if they are given the opportunity to voice their own reasons for making changes (as well as their own strategies for accomplishing the goal), rather then having advice imposed upon them. 

3.       We, as practitioners or professionals, are more likely to bring out the best in people by building trusting, empathic, and supportive relationships with people, and by respecting their autonomy as much as possible, as opposed to trying to fix any perceived problems and deficits that may be present for the person.  

4.       You cannot make people change.  I’ve been teaching Motivational Interviewing skills to students and seasoned professionals for ten years, and I know it’s common to read Motivational Interviewing defined as “a conversation about change.”  But whose behavior can you change?  Maybe your own (at best, on a good a day).  And to me, that’s what Motivational Interviewing is.  It involves behavior change on the part of the practitioner, who may have otherwise given advice or education. When I teach MI, I tell the group: we are not focused on changing your clients (or patients, or students).  We are going to focus on the only thing you can change: yourself.  Decades of research shows that it will have a positive impact on your clients when you are willing to change your own approach to working with them.  If you change your approach, your clients are likely to benefit a great deal.  When working with your clients, your inner dialogue should not be: “How do I get this person to make this change?”  Instead, it should be, “How do I get myself to change my approach to better meet this person’s needs?”