“ Motivational Interviewing is 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 eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.” (Miller & Rollnick, 2013, p. 29)MI is framed as a method of communication rather than an intervention, sometimes used on its own or combined with other treatment approaches. There are a number of benefits of learning MI amongst other approaches to helping conversations:
- MI has been applied across a broad range of settings (e.g. health, corrections, human services, education), populations (e.g. age, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and gender identities), languages, treatment format (e.g. individual, group, telemedicine) and presenting concerns (e.g. health, fitness, nutrition, risky sex, treatment adherence, medication adherence, substance use, mental health, illegal behaviors, gambling, parenting).
- MI compares well to other evidence-based approaches in formal research studies.
- MI is compatible with the values of many disciplines and evidence-based approaches.