Tools Therapists Can Use to Deliver Motivational Interviewing to Clients

Posted by Tim Tarks on March 17th, 2023

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counseling approach that aims to help individuals overcome ambivalence or resistance to change, and to make positive changes in their behavior. Here are some tools that can help a therapist deliver MI:

1. Open-ended questions: MI therapists use open-ended questions to elicit the individual's thoughts and feelings about their behavior, and to help them explore their reasons for change.
2. Reflections: Reflections involve restating and summarizing the individual's thoughts and feelings, and can help to facilitate empathy and understanding between the therapist and the individual.
3. Affirmations: Affirmations involve providing positive feedback and reinforcement for the individual's efforts and strengths, and can help to build confidence and self-esteem.
4. Eliciting change talk: Change talk refers to the individual's statements that reflect a desire, ability, reason, or need to change their behavior. MI therapists use techniques such as scaling questions, decisional balance, and exploring the pros and cons of change to elicit change talk.
5. Summarizing: Summarizing involves summarizing the key points of the individual's statements, and can help to clarify and reinforce the individual's goals and reasons for change.
6. Active listening: MI therapists use active listening skills, such as attending, reflecting, and clarifying, to demonstrate empathy and understanding, and to build rapport with the individual.
7. OARS: OARS is an acronym that stands for Open-ended questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and Summaries. These four communication skills are the foundation of MI, and can help a therapist to deliver MI in a structured and effective way.
8. Worksheets: Therapists can use Motivational Interviewing templates and Motivational Interviewing Worksheets to help clients.

These tools and techniques are just a few examples of the many tools that therapists can use to deliver MI effectively. The specific tools and techniques used may vary depending on the needs and goals of the individual, as well as the therapist's training and experience.