Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a client-centred, goal-oriented therapeutic approach designed to enhance an individual’s motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence. This page introduces you to Motivational Interviewing, and provides you with a curated collection of MI courses, articles, videos, and other resources.
Jump to section:
What is Motivational Interviewing?
Developed by William Miller and Stephen Rollnick in the 1980s, Motivational Interviewing focuses on fostering internal motivation rather than external pressure. The method is rooted in empathy, collaboration, and respect for a person’s autonomy, helping clients articulate their own reasons for making a change. It is particularly effective in areas where individuals may feel conflicted about their behaviours, such as addiction, mental health challenges, or lifestyle changes.
The core techniques of Motivational Interviewing include asking open-ended questions, reflective listening, affirmations, and summarising. These strategies encourage clients to explore their thoughts and feelings about change without feeling judged or coerced. The practitioner helps the client identify discrepancies between their current behaviour and broader life goals, which naturally guides them toward making positive choices. By emphasising a non-confrontational, supportive atmosphere, Motivational Interviewing empowers individuals to engage in their own process of change, increasing the likelihood of long-term success. MI has been widely used in various settings, including healthcare, counselling, and social work, due to its evidence-based effectiveness in promoting behavioural change across diverse populations.
The current version of MI emphasises four processes as the basis for the MI approach:
- Engaging is the relational foundation.
- Focusing identifies agenda and change goals.
- Evoking uses MI core skills and strategies for moving toward a specific change goal.
- Planning is the bridge to behaviour change.
For more information on MI, including its “spirit,” techniques and practical applications, read Motivational Interviewing: Update Your Understanding.
Featured Motivational Interviewing Training & Courses
Following is a curated list of Mental Health Academy Motivational Interviewing training and courses. Click the links to learn more about each course, and enrol (enrolment is available for MHA members only – if you’re not a member, click here to learn more about membership):
- Introduction to Motivational Interviewing: Resolving Ambivalence and Changing Behaviour. Dr. Tara DeWitt introduces motivational interviewing and explains how this modality resolves ambivalence to support desired change.
- Treating Depression with Motivational Interviewing. This course examines how Motivational Interviewing can be used to support clients suffering from depression.
- Treating Anxiety with Motivational Interviewing. This course examines how Motivational Interviewing can be used to support clients suffering from anxiety disorders.
- Using Motivational Interviewing While Working with Ethnic Issues. Dr. James Rogers demonstrates how Cross-Cultural Psychology and Motivational Interviewing can be applied to support a young client experiencing issues with her family.
- Using Motivational Interviewing with Alcohol Dependence and Depression. Dr. James Rogers demonstrates how the Trans-theoretical Model of Change and Motivational Interviewing can be applied to support a client experiencing symptoms associated with alcohol dependence and moderate clinical depression.
- Trauma and Addiction: Taking Motivational Interviewing to the Next Level. Beryl J. Armstrong reviews models for trauma and addiction and shows how motivational interviewing can be used for clients with addiction and trauma issues to achieve genuine engagement and validation and to move their energy forward through stuck points.
For more courses, visit https://www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au/catalogue
Recommended Motivational Interviewing Resources
Following is a curated list of Motivational Interviewing resources, including articles, videos, and popular books. Click the links to learn more about each resource.
- Motivational Interviewing: Update Your Understanding (read article)
- Understanding the Process of Change (read article)
- Why Just Telling People to Change Doesn’t Work (read article)
- Trauma as a Risk Factor for Addiction: The Need for Trauma-informed Addictions Treatment (watch video)
- Fireside: Working with Addictions (watch video)
- How to Support Clients Struggling with Alcohol and Drug Abuse (watch video)
- The Effective School Counselor with a High-Risk Teen: Motivational Interviewing Demonstration (watch video)
- The Effective School Counselor with a Lower-Risk Teen: Motivational Interviewing Demonstration (watch video)
- Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change and Grow (4th ed) (view book)
- Motivational Interviewing in Schools: Conversations to Improve Behavior and Learning (view book)
- Motivational Interviewing for School Counselors (view book)
- Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (view website)
Motivational Interviewing Assessment Tools
Motivational Interviewing clinicians frequently use various assessment tools to help guide the MI process. These tools help identify key factors related to motivation, readiness for change, substance use, and mental health issues. Here is a list of commonly used screening tools in the context of MI:
- Readiness Ruler (Readiness to Change Ruler): A simple, visual tool that assesses an individual’s readiness to change. Clients rate on a scale from 1 to 10 their current readiness, importance, and confidence in making a change.
- Stages of Change Questionnaire (SOCQ): Based on the Transtheoretical Model, this tool helps assess which stage of change (Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance) the individual is in regarding a specific behaviour.
- Decisional Balance Sheet: A tool that helps clients weigh the pros and cons of changing or maintaining a particular behaviour. It helps in evoking ambivalence and discussing motivation.
- Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): A screening tool developed by the World Health Organization to identify excessive drinking behaviours. It helps in the MI process for clients struggling with alcohol use.
- Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST): A tool to assess the severity of drug abuse in individuals. Often used in MI settings when addressing substance use.
- Brief Intervention for Substance Use: A framework that incorporates MI principles and is used to quickly assess substance use and deliver an appropriate intervention.
- Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9): Although typically used for depression screening, the PHQ-9 can be utilized in MI to explore mental health factors influencing a client’s motivation to change.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7): Used for anxiety screening, it helps MI practitioners understand the influence of anxiety on behaviour change efforts.
- The Client’s Self-Assessment of Confidence and Importance: A scaling tool where clients rate how important the change is and how confident they are in making it. These assessments are useful for guiding MI conversations.
- Smoking Cessation Readiness Questionnaire: A tool designed to assess an individual’s readiness to quit smoking, which aligns well with the MI approach.
- Treatment Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ): This measures an individual’s motivation for treatment, especially in addiction recovery contexts, and complements MI by addressing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors.
- Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q): A tool for assessing disordered eating behaviours, often used in MI for clients dealing with eating disorders to gauge their motivation and ambivalence about change.
References
- Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2023). Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change (4th ed.). Guilford Press.