Motivational Interviewing Example Script

Understanding Motivational Interviewing

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is typically used for supporting individuals in their quest to make positive changes within their lifestyle. Making any significant changes within one's life can be extremely daunting. That's why with help from a mental health professional who specializes in this kind of therapy technique, clients can be guided through their challenging thoughts and resistance to a new and improved way of thinking.

MI brings many benefits that allow individuals to really get in tune with where they want to be. Here are a few benefits:

• increases their motivation to change
• improves treatment outcomes
• reduces a resistance to change

If you want to learn more about MI as a whole, follow this link to our guides page.

In this guide, we'll uncover the importance of keeping on top of your MI skills as a mental health practitioner and how our example script can help you!

In what situations should Motivational Interviewing be applied?

There are various situations where MI can be applied to support individuals seeking help. Here are a few that we have identified below:

Drug and alcohol addiction

MI can help patients who are living with substance abuse. The motivational portion of the session can help clients by reminding them of their will to continue getting help, and to stay away from addictive substances as well as examine these reasons in depth to allow for a better chance in continuing to steer away from the path of harmful substances.

Physical health behaviors

Individuals who are making a change to their physical health or taking more time to endulge in activities that enhances this may find that MI also supports their ability to succeed in this area. Clients who make significant changes such as quitting smoking or managing their chronic health conditions may find that MI keeps them from choosing to discontinue their new journey.

Mental health issues

Individuals who are living with mental health issues may also find that they can benefit from MI. Those who are living with disorders such as depression and anxiety may benefit due to the 'change talk' that MI can bring. Shifting perspective can be a useful tool when it comes to perceiving certain situations. MI can help by reminding individuals why they are seeking help and how they can look at things through a different viewfinder.

Occupational settings

MI can also be utilized within occupational settings. Companies who wish to alter their communication skills and improve their working life for staff members by utilizing specific MI concepts with their employees to gain a comprehensive understanding of the needs in the workplace.

Preventing relapse

Finally, MI can support individuals in preventing relapse. Often, MI can remind clients of why they began their journey in the first place, what they are working to and how things will look in the future when they continue their journey. MI can lift individuals who might not see the point of continuing through a range of techniques.

How does this script work?

This script is really quite simple. Here at Carepatron, we're dedicated to making your daily life as a mental health practitioner just that much easier. That's why we've gone ahead and created an example script for you to reference when beginning to implement this skill in your practice, or simply to brush up on those skills.

Step one: download the example script

You can do this by navigating the Carepatron templates page and searching for this script, or clicking the link down below. Here you'll be able to download it to your device for online use or if you prefer to print and have a physical copy, no problem! You can download this as a printable version and do just that.

Step two: read through the script

This template is a guide only. We've included some important phrases that you can utilize through your conversation when doing MI. The different colors have a key down below so you can align what phrases are classed as what aspects of the interviewing.

Please remember that every conversation you have with your clients will be different. We've chosen a fairly universal topic of thinking about a career change. You can utilize MI with individuals who aren't thinking of changing occupations, but remember, it works best if you integrate your own phrases that align with MI aspects. This is a guide only.

Step three: store the example script

Finally, you can go ahead and store the script securely. Whether you're using a device option, or have a physical copy, you can store it securely within the Carepatron system, or have your printout around your office somewhere for your reference.

How does OARS work

MI encompasses four different principles that work together to empower the individual. The four concepts consist of open questions, affirming responses, reflective listening, and summary reflections. All of these techniques help to build a well-rounded conversation that allows for great effectiveness of the therapeutic process.

Open questions

Open questions are questions that allow the client to speak more about what they are going through. They invite more than a standard 'yes' or 'no' answer from the client (Motivational Interviewing: Open Questions, Affirmation, Reflective Listening, and Summary Reflections (OARS), n.d.). Examples of open questions are:

• How can I help you with ... ?
• Can you help me to understand ...?
• How would you like things to be different?

As you can see, these questions elicit more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer than a closed question would. This allows the client to share more about what's on their mind as well as push them to choose phrases that allow an outsider to comprehend what is happening.

Affirmations

Affirmations are a great way to implement motivation into a client for various reasons. These are statements that allow reflection on positive traits of the individual and recognize their efforts towards their goal(s). Affirmations can work towards building confidence and contribute a positive feeling towards the therapy sessions. It's nice to share some of the good things within therapy sessions. Here are some examples of affirming statements:

• I appreciate your willingness to meet today.
• That's a good idea.
• That's a good suggestion.
• You are a very resourceful person.
• I have enjoyed our discussion today.

To maximize the effect of the affirming statements, the mental health practitioner needs to use them wisely. They need to be genuine and meaningful for them to be well received (Motivational Interviewing: Open Questions, Affirmation, Reflective Listening, and Summary Reflections (OARS), n.d.). Affirming statements can also support the therapeutic relationship as well as enhancing motivation.

Reflective listening

Reflective listening (RL) is a technique that can help therapists not only within MI but also in typical therapy sessions. Communication breakdowns within therapy can happen due to a few different reasons:

• the speaker does not say what is actually meant
• the listener does not hear properly
• there is a different interpretation by the listener

To avoid communication breakdown, the therapist can utilize RL techniques to explore what is actually being said by the client. This involves repeating, rephrasing and reflection techniques. According to Motivational Interviewing: Open Questions, Affirmation, Reflective Listening, and Summary Reflections (OARS) (n.d.) common listening phrases are:

• So you feel…
• It sounds like you…
• You’re wondering if…

These statements allow the patient to correct the therapist if they have interpreted the situation wrong, allow for reflection, and strengthen motivation by trusting that the therapist is genuinely interested in their goals.

Summary reflections

Summary reflections are simply another aspect of RL. With summary reflections, therapists are inviting the client to reflect and understand their situation from another person's point of view. Summary reflections typically begin with an opening statement, something along the lines of:

• Let me see if I understand so far...

Then, being concise, summarize what the individual has shared. During this time you can focus on their 'change statements'. These are statements they have used within the session that show their willingness to modify current problem behavior as well as if they have offered potential solutions. Although being concise sounds good, being accurate is more important as it demonstrates that the therapist has been truly comprehending what the patient has said during the session.

Finally, the end of the summary reflection should always end in an invitation for the patient to contribute more or clear up any misconceptions. According to (Motivational Interviewing: Open Questions, Affirmation, Reflective Listening, and Summary Reflections (OARS), n.d.) these invitations can be along the lines of:

• Did I miss anything?
• If that’s accurate, what other points are there to consider?
• Anything you want to add or correct?

The benefits of using this script for enhancing motivation

We know how difficult it can be to have all of those psychological techniques and theories up in your mind. Utilizing each technique differently for different patients can often mean that your head might not be in the game fully and you lose out on important conversation skills that make you seem confident. There are a few benefits to using this script:

Consistency

Although you will very often change what you say to a patient and how you engage with them, using this script can be helpful by allowing you to quickly remember what techniques you can use during an MI session. This way you can be sure that you're using the same techniques within this interviewing process that other psychologists use to remain consistent with the requirements for MI.

Time management

This script can also be a time guide for conversations with a limited amount of time spent doing MI. Although every conversation and person will be different, this script can help mental health professionals judge when to move on from a topic within the conversation or spend a little longer on each conversation point.

Reviewing

This example script can support mental health professionals when it comes to reviewing certain techniques and practices for clinical use. By reviewing and reflecting on this example script, therapists can contribute to their ongoing professional development of motivational interviewing skills.

Research and evidence

MI can be a fine balancing act. Along with the desire to change comes resistance. Therapists may often find that they need to 'roll with resistance'. According to Bundy (2004), rolling with resistance is a difficult skill to acquire and may take some practice. Arguing with a statement that the patient may say often results in a listening breakdown. Within MI, the goal is to delicately challenge that thought process.

According to Bundy (2004), using MI techniques such as questioning and reflective listening can often help the person to see what they are saying and how it may not align with their overall goals. This can lead the individual up on their motivated scale. If it were easy to make significant and sustained changes in our lifestyle, there would be no need for MI (Bundy, 2004).

There has also been significant research that demonstrates MI can be effective in group settings. A study conducted by Lincourt et al. (2002) focused on the effectiveness of MI in group settings with mandated clients. This was a longitudinal study that ran over the course of two years. Some of the clients who were mandated to attend were court-ordered to attend substance abuse treatment.

When compared to the individuals who were not part of their MI group, individuals who did attend were less likely to depend on substances. They were reported to attend a higher proportion of their treatment as well as completing the overall treatment. Overall, having a MI group may promote higher rates of attendance (Lincourt et al., 2002).

References

Bundy, C. (2004). Changing behaviour: using motivational interviewing techniques. J R Soc Med, 97(44), 43–47. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1308798/pdf/15239293.pdf

Lincourt, P., Kuettel, T. J., & Bombardier, C. H. (2002). Motivational interviewing in a group setting with mandated clients. Addictive Behaviors, 27(3), 381–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0306-4603(01)00179-4

Motivational Interviewing: Open Questions, Affirmation, Reflective Listening, and Summary Reflections (OARS). (n.d.). Www.homelesshub.ca. https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/motivational-interviewing-open-questions-affirmation-reflective-listening-and-summary#:~:text=Motivational%20Interviewing%3A%20The%20Basics%2C%20OARS&text=and%20Morrison%2C%202007)-