If you’ve ever wondered how to delve deeper into someone’s motive for change, read further!
Motivational interviewing is a method of interviewing and supporting change in a way that connects people to their goals, motivations, conflicting behavior, and supportive behaviors in the pursuit of their goals.
It seeks to uncover reasons for change while offering motivation in a way specific to the needs of the person seeking to change.
The mnemonic OARS can help you to remember…
Open ended, affirmations, reflections and summaries
Open Ended:
Asking questions that encourage patient response beyond simple yes and no questions.
Encouraging a dialogue where the client is doing more of the talking.
“Tell me more” is an example of an open ended question.
Affirmations:
Reframing behaviors that focus on the clients’ strengths and capabilities. It focuses on genuine responses and acknowledging specific strengths
Reflections
Summarize
To go over the patients concerns, recap, and reflecting back what they have said and to connect the links beyond what they have said. This means acknowledging their challenges, and also affirming the positive reasons for change and creating a dialogue that supports their intended positive goals. It is linking and expanding on what the patient has already said.
Empathy is important in the interviewing process…
It allows us to imagine what the patient is going through and therefore connect to the feelings of the other person. We can best support others by treating them as if they are human beings with feelings, cares, needs, wants that are similar to our own in many regards.
It is important to uncover discrepancies because it may bring to mind self-defeating behaviors that the person seeking the change may not be aware of. It may result in better adherence to behavior patterns that are supportive of the intended goal and make more aware (or at least connect the patient consciously)
Give an example of an open-ended question you could ask during a motivational interview about weight loss:
On a scale of 1 to 10 how important is it for you to change?
Why do you want to make the change now?
What would you accomplish if you achieved your goal
