Summaries are the last of the 4 core Motivational Interviewing skills. Summaries are pulling together several things the client has told you and offering it back to them. In the early processes of MI, summaries provide an opportunity for the client to know that you have been listening carefully and remembering what is important to them. The client not only hears themselves speak about their personal experiences but they also hear you reflect what has been said which can be very helpful. Lastly, they also encourage the client to provide any additional information or details that have been left unspoken.
There are several different ways a summary can function. A collecting summary brings together several interrelated items as they are being expressed. For example, if we asked the open ended question, 鈥淗ow might you like your job to be different?鈥� you would likely collect a list of answers to this question. And when you have heard a few ways the client might like their job to be different, you can pull them together into this type of summary.
Another type of summary is a linking summary. With this kind of summary, you reflect back to the client what has been said, and link it to something they have shared in the past. In our example above, the client may have discussed their previous work history and there may be aspects of an old job, as well as, the current job that are similar, 鈥淵ou have been telling me how you really prefer to collaborate with others and I remember you telling that in your last job how much you worked alone and did not prefer it.鈥�
Lastly, the third type is called a transitional summary. When we are ending a session or are ready to shift to a new topic, a transitional summary is used to pull together what seems to be most important. You are choosing what to hi-light but also giving the client the chance to add anything else. If we were talking about job satisfaction, the counselor may say, 鈥淵ou probably remember that we were going to end today with me asking you some questions about other jobs you may be interested in, but let me see if I understand how you are feeling about your current job鈥︹��
I often find summaries useful when I am having a difficult time determining where to go next in the session or when I am hearing similar themes being presented by the client. Please take time to experiment with these different types of summaries and let me know if you have any questions. Thanks and continue to be curious!
Additional Resources:
For additional resources related to MI, a collection of books have been published to address several areas of practice including anxiety, wellness, social work, classroom management, groups, adolescents, medical trainees, etc. Click here for a list of these books as well as chapters from books and a bibliography.
Read about the latest research in Motivational Interviewing. Recent articles focus on teaching physicians MI for discussing weight issues with overweight adolescents and behavioral interventions targeting chronic pain, depression, and Substance Use Disorder in primary care.