Motivational Interviewing : A Good Listener With My Friends

The idea of motivational interviewing builds on Rogers' theories about people having freedom of choice and changing through the process of self-actualisation (Davidson, 1994). Miller and Rollnik (1991) describe it as a technique in which the heath practitioner becomes a helper in the change process while expressing acceptance of their client. A central goal of motivational interviewing, says Geldard & Geldard (2012), is to help resolve the ambivalence which prevents clients from realising their personal goals and to facilitate positive change. Motivational interviewing is mostly utilised to counsel those troubled by addiction (not just substance, but also behaviours).

The discussion of the video below is in accordance with the Motivational Interviewing Reflection Tool (MIRT).

Motivational interviewing is a practice wherein conveying acceptance of your client, you become an aid in the process of change. Motivational interviewing fosters Carl Rogers ' optimistic and humanistic theories; around ones competences for employing free choice and shifting through a course of self-actualization. The therapeutic relationship for both Motivational Interviewers and Rogerians’ is a democratic partnership. The concept of Motivational Interviewing (MI) progressed from the experience of treating problem drinkers. Motivational Interviewing was first described by William R. Miller, Ph.D., in 1983.

An interview utilizing motivational interviewing techniques was conducted by a nurse practitioner student and a consenting patient. The patient is a 55-year-old, male, with occupation as a heating, ventilation, and air conditioner technician that the nurse practitioner student identified on physical examination to have mild hearing loss. Hearing protection is admittedly not worn consistently at the jobsite during the history taking portion of the exam. This paper will discuss the behavioral health problem of noncompliance with hearing protection, the evidence supporting motivational interviewing strategies to support behavior change, and a discussion of the techniques used during the interview.

The process of motivational interviewing is essentially about creating "intrinsic motivation to change" within the client (Moyers, 1998). The choice to change must originate with the client and the process for helping this occur begins with motivational interviewing. There are two phases within motivational interviewing, the first focuses on increasing the client’s motivation to change and the second phase is negotiating a plan and consolidating commitment. It is important to understand the traps that can be encountered within this process, such as the question/answer trap. In this trap the client is led by the counselor with little chance to have free speech to explain themselves because the counselor is just focused on the next question instead of focusing on where the client is leading them. This trap is very similar to the expert trap in the fact that the client is left to believe they cannot find answers for themselves; they instead must listen to the expert who is giving them the answers. This is most definitely not the way to motivate a client to make changes for themselves. Other traps include premature focus, denial, labeling, and blaming; all of which can prevent the client from opening up in the treatment process.

Combined Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy with Older Adult Drug and Alcohol Abusers is an article written by Lyle Cooper concerning the abuse or misuse of illicit drugs, prescription medications, and alcohol in older populations. Due to lack of knowledge or resources, elderly individuals are falling victim to substance use problems and the numbers are projected to rise. Therefore, an assistance program called HeLP was created to provide evidence-based treatment to the specific cohort of 50 and up age range. Motivational interviewing is used to eliminate internal uncertainties clients may have concerning their treatment; hence, opening themselves up to behavioral changes. Clients who decide to move on to the next stage and if HeLP workers deem it necessary, cognitive-behavioral therapy is implemented to promote changes in thoughts, behaviors, and prevention of future relapse.

Changing is something that someone has to want to do, if there is no motivation things will stay the same. The first step to change is knowing and accepting the wrong that has been done and trying to figure out a way to change. There are numerous of practices that are used to help an offender bring their mistake to the light. These types of methods are called Evidence Based Practices and are used to help both the offender and probation officer learn to communicate on a different level. Evidence based practices are cognitive behavioral training, vocational education and training programs and treatment oriented intensive supervision program. They are used to reintegrate offender s back into the community successfully. The type of evidence based practice that I am going to talk about is motivational interviewing, the pro and cons and if it helps the offenders learn from their mistakes and if it is going to help in the future.

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Overall, the interview was accomplished with few complications. There was definitely areas of the interview that need attending to, and there were areas in which I excelled. The dyadic interview started with an opening statement. I attempted to make Person A feel comfortable by asking a simple question of “How are you today?” I believe I made Person A feel as comfortable as possible in front of a camera and build a rapport. I could have asked one or two more easy questions to lighten the mood. I was nervous being in front of a camera especially for an assignment worth a large portion of my grade. When I’m nervous I sometimes bite my lip and unfortunately throughout the interview I chewed my lip. This could have made Person A feel awkward if she took it in uncomfortable way. The listening aspect of the interview I believe I did very well in. I gave attention to what Person A was saying and tried to ask questions that allowed her to elaborate, although there were a few instances that I missed the opportunity. I also tried to write some notes down

Motivational interviewing is a counseling approach that was studied and understood as an applicable theory of practice that would be beneficial in the environment where I currently work which is an alcohol treatment facility. Whereas, it is understood that clinical and applied aspects of Motivational Interviewing (MI) have shown effective as a relatively brief intervention (Levensky, Cavasos, & Brooks, 2008), especially those dealing with an alcohol dependency. According to Miller and Roderick, MI, has been defined mostly as a directive, client centered counseling approach for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence. In addition, with its goal-orientated approach it can help break down resistance to change (Corey, 2013, pp. 191-194). This theoretical approach is the most favored for the environment in my profession of choice, in addition, integrating it with the practice of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which is already in use.

Particularly, I did not summarize enough. Upon listening to the recording, I feel that summarizing would have been beneficial at times, including after we completed the activity, when she spoke of her fight with her boyfriend, and after she explained her first panic attack. Further, I should have reflected meaning and feeling at various times throughout the session. Another problem I found throughout the session, was that I was not very clear or concise with my language. When I was explaining automatic thoughts I could tell the client was a bit confused and I was not direct with my statements. Also, some of the rewording of the client’s thoughts were not concise and it took some time to work through what I was thinking. I also used terms such as “automatic thoughts” and other technical terms that the client may not have understood. I also asked a few closed ended questions that would have been better used if I phrased them in an open way. Listening back to this session, emphasized my need to improve the language I use with clients so that is it exact and

Throughout this semester, my journey of involvement in class discussions, writing media thread assignments, participating in practice labs, and exploring through numerous, unfamiliar (and familiar) topics in class readings, have inspired me in becoming a more skillful mental health clinician than ever before. Out of many of these topics, however, the one I perused most extensively was a counseling approach called Motivational Interviewing (MI). Miller and Rollnick (2013)—the subject matter experts—define motivational interviewing as 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

When I was in the social worker role I made sure to look at my client in the eye when they were speaking to me to validate that I was listening. While listening I made sure to listen actively by summarizing what the client was saying and remembered to say things that could reassure the client that I am trying to understand what they are feeling. Examples of this are phrases such as: “I hear what you are saying that you felt this way” and “I don’t know what you’re feeling but it must be hard on you to feel this way”. Which in turn also helped me create open ended questions to ask the client. By being an active listener and empathizing with the client it makes it easier to ask open ended questions because I have more information to work on than if I was not really listening or being sympathetic instead of empathetic. I can ask questions that can fill in any loop holes that might be able to help to understand my clients’ strengths or what their needs are. I am glad that I learned that I have these strengths as a social worker and how these strengths will be great tools to help my future

Overall, I had a wonderful and insightful time learning in this class. When given the opportunity

i asked her brief questions about her name and how she was to get acquainted with her and build rapport. Asking questions helps facilitate a dialogue and encourages the client to talk and tell their story Miller (2006). The client seemed tense and uneasy and spoke with a very high tone of voice when she greeted me and introduced herself. When asked about the main reason for turning to therapy, she started fidgeting and looked unsettled; this could be because of the unfamiliar environment or she was not sure if she trusted me enough to tell me her story. Either way, I remained silent whilst maintaining eye contact to give her the space, time she needed in order to settle down and work out what she wanted to bring to the session.