Motivational Interviewing

Summary sheet from nova.edu

    • Affirmations. Don't be overly ingratiating.
      • "You showed a lot of strength/determination..."
    • Asking permission to give advice.
      • "Do you mind if we talk about..."
      • "Are you interested in learning more about..."
      • "What do you know about..."
    • Normalizing. Show that difficulty changing is not uncommon
      • "A lot of people are concerned about..."
    • Open-ended questions
      • "What makes you think that..."
      • "What was that like..."
    • Reflective listening and summaries. Paraphrase responses back to to student
      • "It sounds like..."
      • "What I hear you saying..."
      • "It seems like..."
      • "On the one hand..., but on the other hand..."
      • "[summarize]...it's easy to understand why you want to change"
    • Amplified Reflection. Reflect back in an exaggerated form.
      • "so it seems that...[exaggerate the reflection]"
    • Double-sided reflection. Use 'and'
      • "It seems that...and...you have to do this in order to pass the class."
    • Change talk. Get student to state change reasons. Really grab onto change talk and build it.
      • "What makes you think you need to change?"
      • "What will happen if you don't change?"
      • "How can I help you get past..."
      • "What is the BEST/WORST thing you can imagine if...?"
    • Pros and cons of change. Helps move students towards readiness to change.
      • "What are some of the good things..."
      • "What could some of the bad things if..."
    • For people showing resistance. Use paradoxical statements to get students to argue for change.
      • "It sounds like you have a lot going on...change isn't a priority for you right now."
    • Columbo approach. Deal with discrepancies by stating differences between what students are saying and their behavior. Foster curious inquiry without judgment.
      • "Help me understand...one the one hand you say...but on the other hand you do..."
    • Response to 'I don't know:' "No really...I really want to know what you think.....no really...I really want to know what you think."
    • MI Sandwich. Build rapport [OARS], then do task/class with MI sprinkled in, then close class with change talk and affirmations.