Motivational Interviewing* – Therapy That Transforms Lives
Wings Recovery’s men’s and women’s program clinicians adopt Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a method to help lead clients who are feeling stuck or ambivalent about making a change in their lives. Motivational Interviewing is universally recognized as an effective and less invasive way to help individuals make healthy changes in their lives. If you’re ready to make a change and take the first step on the road to recovery, contact our team today.
What Is Motivational Interviewing?
“MI is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.”1
Key qualities of MI include:
- MI is a guiding style of communication that sits between following (good listening) and directing (giving information and advice).
- MI is designed to empower people to change by drawing out their own meaning, importance, and capacity for change.
- MI is based on a respectful and curious way of being with people that facilitates the natural process of change and honors client autonomy.
It is important to note that MI requires the clinician to engage with the client as an equal partner and refrain from unsolicited advice, confronting, instructing, directing, or warning. It is not a way to “get people to change” or a set of techniques to impose on the conversation. MI takes time, practice, self-awareness, and discipline from the clinician.
When Is MI Useful?
While the principles and skills of Motivational Interviewing are useful in a wide range of conversations, MI is particularly useful to help people examine their situation and options when any of the following are present:
- Ambivalence is high and people are stuck in mixed feelings about change
- Confidence is low and people doubt their abilities to change
- Desire is low and people are uncertain about whether they want to make a change
- Importance is low and the benefits of change and disadvantages of the current situation are unclear
*Information is provided by Motivationalinterviewing.org & Miller & Rollnick, 2009, 2013: Motivational Interviewing: Helping people to change (3rd edition)
1 (Miller & Rollnick, 2013, p. 29)