Motivational Interviewing Tools

Motivational interviewing is a style of counseling. It was originally developed by Drs. William Miller and Stephen Rollnick, and it has been a successful counseling method that helps motivate clients to identify and resolve ambivalence to change problematic behaviors.



Initially used as a counseling style for alcoholics, MI has gained popularity with counselors assisting clients with other issues, such as sexual behavior and drug abuse.

Express Empathy

• Expressing empathy is considered critical in motivational interviewing. A counselor must attempt to see, feel and think about the client's problems the same way as the client. By feeling understood, the client is much more likely to feel a sense of trust toward the counselor, which leads the client to be more open. The more information the counselor can glean regarding the client's ambivalence about change, the better she can help the client explore ways to bring about positive changes in his life.

Support Self-Efficacy

• The client needs to believe that change is possible before he can be successful in making changes. Clients are assigned the task of choosing and carrying out actions to improve behavior, while the counselor focuses on supporting the client's belief that he can change.

  In the MI approach, there is no "right way" to change. This frees up the client to choose his own path to behavioral improvement. Counselors assist clients with finding approaches by such means as pointing out other times the client has achieved positive change in his life, or by sharing brief examples of the success of other clients with similar problems.

  MI used in a group setting is greatly helpful to the counselor; it's easier for a client to believe that change is possible by hearing the success stories from other clients.

Roll with Resistance

• Counselors using the MI style do not fight resistance from the client. The counselor instead uses the client's own "momentum" to further explore the views of the client. This has proven to be an effective method that decreases resistance; the client is not being rewarded for being argumentative with the counselor's possible suggestions.

  Since clients are encouraged to identify and develop strategies for solving their own problems, no hierarchy between the client and counselor is established, thus the fewer occurrences of resistance. Counselors may make suggestions regarding new perspectives, but are not to impose new ways of thinking on the client.

Develop Discrepancy

• When a client begins to see a difference between where he is behaviorally versus where he wants to be, a motivation for change begins to occur. The counselor assists the client in identifying the discrepancies by gently and gradually helping the client see that some current behaviors may be leading the client away from achieving goals for change.