Motivational Interviewing: Communicating to Support Change

It is common for people to struggle and experience ambivalence when considering making a change or when others may be expecting them to make one. When helpers encounter this ambivalence with their clients, it is often interpreted as resistance, and they may feel unable to respond in an effective way.

Motivational interviewing can help because it is a communication style and way of being with clients that helps them find their internal motivation for solving problems. By exploring the framework and strategies of motivational interviewing, you will learn new ways to facilitate the change process in the people you support. You will gain practical strategies that start from a place of empathy and draw on the client’s personal motivation to create their own goals for change.