Motivational Interviewing Spirts Analysis

MI therapists prize the client when they are with the client. As in Person-Centered therapy, the client is regarded as the expert of his life. Within the client lies the will to change if it can be adequately identified and then encouraged to come out. Once encouraged and heard, the will to change can then be involved in planning a change. Carl Rogers developed a therapy method that trusted the client. His person-centered approach began with the client receiving and benefiting from a special status conferred upon him by the therapist. This theoretical approach pivots around the idea that clients have the ability to

Motivational interviewing is a way of conducting and occupy the essential motivation within the client in order to change behavior. It is “an efficient and collaborative style of clinical interaction that can boost the effectiveness of the therapeutic alliance” (Jellinek, Henderson, Dilallo, & Weiss, 2009, p.108). Motivational

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).

Solution-Focused Interviewing, The Transtheoretical Model, and Motivational Interviewing are three approaches used by practitioners to assist and guide people in changing their behavior. Each approach has its own format and process and this paper will compare and contrast some similarities and differences between these three approaches. This will be done by looking at five client scenarios and comparing and contrasting them with the approaches. The five client scenarios are; the client who wants something and sees themselves as part of the solution, the client who says someone else needs to change, the client who seems uninterested or resistant to changing, the client who wants what is not good for them and finally the client who does not seem to want anything.

The spirit of motivational interviewing (MI), which entails collaboration, evocation and autonomy, is the fundamental approach to elicit intrinsic motivations (1, 2). Throughout the video, the therapist appears to have applied the MI spirit in accordance with Miller and Rollnick (2). The therapist firstly created an encouraging atmosphere for change by monitoring and accommodating the client’s aspirations (collaboration). The therapist then evoked the client’s motivation through their perceptions, goals and values (evocation) and also informed about the right for self-direction leading to commitment to change (Autonomy). However, to sustain the MI spirit, a breakdown of the requirements will be discussed below.

Afterwards, the essential concepts and methods were later particularized by Miller and Stephen Rollnick, Ph.D., in 1991. This involved a more comprehensive description of the clinical procedures of motivational interviewing. Motivational Interviewing is a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence (Miller & Rollnick, 1991). Motivational Interviewing is goal directed and more focused when compared with nondirective therapies. The central purpose is to examine and resolve ambivalence, with an intentionally directive therapist to carry out this goal (Miller & Rollnick, 1991).

Engagement is considered one of the most important parts of working with a client. Coady and Lehmann (2008) consider engagement the first of four steps in the problem solving model of social work. Engagement can begin as early as the first over the phone contact or referral notification with the client. To become aware of the client’s background (ecology and life circumstances) is crucial part of this stage. It is also important for the social worker to become in tune with their own thoughts and beliefs when coming into contact with this client for the first time. After tuning into the client it is key for any social worker to make a client feel welcomed with a sense of warmth, empathy and respect. Too much empathy and warm, however,

This closely simulated a patient interaction with candid answers and the presence of other family members. It was most challenging to calculate the responsive statement to use while maintaining the direction of the interview. Motivational interviewing techniques employed in this interaction include the use of open ended questions to encourage change talk from the patient, affirmation of the patient’s honesty and accountability, reflective statements to show active listening and to illicit further change talk from the patient, and the use of summarization to communicate the patient’s identified growth (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). Transcending these techniques was the spirit of motivational interviewing that communicated acceptance to the patient, guiding versus directing communication, and the support of self-efficacy (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). This was done by first asking permission to discuss the topic and was then carried through the

Motivational interviewing recognizes and accepts the fact that clients who need to make changes in their lives approach counseling at different levels of readiness to change their behavior. During counseling, some patient may have thought about it but not taken steps to change it while some especially those voluntarily seeking counseling, may be actively trying to change their behavior and may have been doing so unsuccessfully for years. In order

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.

Kazemi et al. (2013) discuss the impact of motivational interviewing (MI) on the number of blackouts experienced by first-time college students who are high-risk alcoholics. Specifically, the authors conducted a study on 188 college freshmen who are high-risk alcoholics to establish the patterns of their blackouts when they are placed on MI. In this text, I will discuss why the plan by Kazemi and his coauthors was effective in the first place. Secondly, I will enumerate major issues of concern. Finally, I will suggest how I can improve the plan.

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.

Many studies have proven that the use of motivational interviewing helps patients to accept changing behaviors. This is mostly because the care giver builds trust and does not assume an authoritarian role but, more of a supportive confidant. This interviewing method has proven successful with suicide prevention, addiction, weight loss, and many other issues. One difficulty that providers have found is using motivational interviewing with multiple patients at one time.

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

Affirmations are also part of the process. Miller and Rollnick (2002), stated “Directly affirming and supporting the client during the counseling process is another way of building rapport and reinforcing open exploration.” (p. 73) When statements of appreciation and understanding are included in the sessions I feel that an additional supportive atmosphere can be established along with building positive rapport with the family because their efforts are being acknowledged. Affirming the client’s and family’s strengths, past accomplishments, and efforts to adjustment helps build confidence and could lower the resistance and build resilience.