Last update: 19 September, 2019
Few methods have been as effective as the motivational interview to push people to change. Success is linked to several factors: it facilitates the relationship with the patient, its effectiveness is scientifically proven and it has been developed in a collaborative way.
Nowadays the motivational interview is adopted in different contexts, according to which the receivers can be clients, patients, students, people with an addiction, delinquents or employees.
Likewise, mentors, educators, therapists, psychologists, doctors or nurses can use the motivational interview technique in a very satisfying way.
What is the motivational interview?
In general, a motivational interview is a resource that helps people change the things they don't like about themselves. We are talking about everything that is a source of discomfort and that emerges, in fact, during the interview. Furthermore, during the session all the barriers that prevent these people from changing are broken down.
We bring change into play every day, almost spontaneously. We make requests of others and are very sensitive to aspects of everyday language that denote reticence, goodwill, commitment, etc.
In addition to conveying a message, among the most important functions of language is that of motivating and influencing the behavior of others. In some cases the request is simple, like passing the salt for example; in others, however, it is more complex, such as completing an international treaty.
Even in the social and psychological spheres, patients talk about change with the specialist, who helps them to change. Doctors, dentists, nurses, dieticians and nutritionists have conversations about changing lifestyle and habits.
The motivational interview pays attention to the natural language that is about change. The aim is effective communication, especially when the interview takes place in a professional context, in which an expert offers his help.
Many of these conversations often risk being useless and dysfunctional, despite the good intentions of those who support them. The motivational interview was designed to find a constructive way to help people overcome the obstacles they encounter when they want to change.
In concreto, the motivational interview consists in knowing how to organize conversations. People convince themselves to change based on their values ​​and interests.
Communication styles
We can think of these conversations as if they were a segment. In one extreme is the conducting style, in the other the accompaniment style. The center of this segment is governed by the guiding style, which follows the model of the motivational interview. Now imagine taking a trip to a foreign country and hiring a tour guide to help you.
The guide's job is not to tell you what to see or do and when. A skilled guide knows how to listen and offer in-depth information when needed based on your interests. The motivational interview hovers in this intermediate territory between directing and accompanying.
Being a guide often means accompanying, other times directing, but also neither, leaving the person full freedom in the face of the range of possibilities available to him, and one must know how to juggle these three paths with great intelligence.
For example, stimulating a child's learning in most cases requires guidance and in this sense it is necessary to know how to alternate periods of accompaniment with periods of orientation and freedom.
Avoiding the correction reflex is essential in the motivational interview
Those who practice a profession that is dedicated to helping relationships do so for various reasons. Maybe it wants to be useful to society, to prevent and alleviate suffering, to show love for God, etc. Ironically, these same reasons can lead to an excess of management style which, therefore, risks being ineffective or even counterproductive when it comes to helping people.
When we resort to the leadership style, we also use the correction reflex: the desire to help others is such that we want to dictate what to do or not to do. Unfortunately, all this creates resistance. One of the goals of the motivational interview is to minimize these resistances.
What is the motivational interview not?
It will certainly be useful for you to clarify what is not a motivational interview and to distinguish it from other types of interviews. The motivational interview is not just about being nice to others, and it has nothing to do with Carl Rogers' client-centered therapy either. In this kind of conversation there is an intentional and strategic movement towards one or more specific objectives.
The motivational interview is not even a “technique”, an easy trick to learn and to add to the wealth of resources available. More than anything else, it is a way of being with others, of an integration of specific clinical skills that foster the motivation for change.
It's a complex style that can be perfected over the years, but it's not the cure-all for all clinical problems. The motivational interview was meant for help people resolve ambivalence in the face of change and strengthen their motivation.
During this process five fundamental communication skills come into play: formulating open questions, affirming, reflecting, summarizing and giving information and advice, always with the patient's permission.
The motivational interview is a powerful resource for facilitating change. It weakens ambivalence towards change itself and foments motivation. All this is possible through a guiding communication style, without wanting to impose anything on the patient, but leaving him free.
