I recently heard Stephen Rollnick, co-author of Motivational Interviewing, ask this question: “What does a skilled guide do and what types of questions do they ask?” A good question might look like: “Where do you want to go today?” (finding focus in a conversation) “What is the destination where you would like to end up?” […]
Your employer signs you up for a Motivational Interviewing (MI) training or you just attend since you are intrigued by what you have heard about this language and its efficacy with behavior change. You learn one of the key skills of MI – complex reflections – which adds meaning to a client’s words. You may […]
Your client who comes in weekly is stuck in ambivalence. HOW do you help them get out of the quicksand and have a different kind of conversation? One thing we teach in Motivational Interviewing is WHAT to reflect. Are you reflecting the ambivalence, or the vision of your client? How do you cherry pick the […]
Did you know that what comes out of your client’s mouth is highly influenced by what you are saying? If statements from your client start with the word YOU it can mean they have perceived the conversation as potentially judgmental. In Motivational Interviewing we call this discord. Discord reflects the dissonance in your working relationship, […]
You’ve just bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers and are heading home. What’s the first thing you do before putting them into a vase to enjoy? You take off the wrapping, pull out your scissors and cut off the stems so they have the best chance of survival for the week. Then you put the […]