How to Use Motivational Interviewing in Treatment Planning

In traditional interviewing, the client is interviewed by a counselor; the patient’s name, address, education, work, and medical history are recorded. The counselor asks what brought the patient to treatment to discover her most urgent concern(s). Later the counselor creates a treatment plan. From that point, the client is more or less assessed according to this treatment plan and remains a spectator, but Motivational Interviewing turns the patient into a participant.

Things You'll Need

• Listening skills
• Patience

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Instructions

• 1

  Avoid the confrontational style of interviewing the client; instead, ask open-ended questions to find out what the patient would like to see happen in her life. When she is answering your questions, attend to what she’s saying and listen for cues that tell you what she hopes to gain from her time with you. In client-centered interviewing, put the clients needs first rather than promote the traditional agenda of merely gathering and recording information.

• 2

  Respect the client’s autonomy. Many clients want to help themselves, but are never given the opportunity. As children they were told what to do and often made to believe that they couldn't handle their own problems. Part of Motivational Interviewing is giving the patient back his power so that he learns to solve his own problems, like an adult, with confidence.

• 3

  Listen attentively to the patient. In order to create a plan that is tailored for her particular needs, allow her to express the point of view with you. Encourage her to talk about herself and support her assessment of the situation. Put aside any agenda or preconceived notions that you may have and attend to her conversation, body language and voice cues.

• 4

  Reflect what he says. In other words, repeat some of what he tells you in your own words to show that you understand the nature of his problem. This engages the client and encourages him to actively participate in the treatment and recovery plan. Allow him to feel in charge of his own life, rather than like he’s handing the reins over to the counselor. Motivational Interviewing is concerned with reflecting the client’s thoughts and feelings, so be sure to quiet your own thoughts, especially while assessing to create a treatment plan.

• 5

  Summarize the interview session. Repeat the key points of the discussion, spell out any weaknesses in communication, clarify what the patient came in for and what she expects. Things to look for are alcohol and drug abuse, spousal neglect, post traumatic stress syndrome, history of family abuse, and/or lack of life skills. Once you have a complete assessment, create the most beneficial treatment plan for your client. Keeping in mind the techniques of Motivations Interviewing, combine the information that you’ve gathered from your interview to create the treatment plan; while reading your notes, focus on the patient’s needs and remain client-centered.