Motivational Interviewing: Walking Towards Change

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based counseling and a collaborative approach. It targets clients’ ambivalence and helps them bring about behavioral changes through negotiation. Miller observed that people tend to become defensive and show resistance when they are confronted directly about their shortcomings. The highlight of this technique is that the entire articulation about commitment to changes is made by the client himself rather than the therapist. The current chapter focuses on the MI as a ‘skilful clinical method’ and as a technique adopted by mental health professionals and entails its central principles and strategies including OARS (Open questions, Affirming, Reflecting and Summarizing), decisional balance sheet, change plan worksheet, etc. It reflects the usage of the technique in treatment of alcohol and related disorders and expansion of MI in the treatment of gambling disorder, eating disorder, risky sexual behaviour, diabetes, pain, and stress management. The chapter also feature the application of MI in various fields including healthcare, rehabilitation, dentistry, public health, education, and IT & BT sectors. The chapter also consists of several case illustrations for the use of MI in various mental disorders. Thus, motivational interviewing is an essential counselling technique that can be used independently or as an adjunct to various other interventions.