As we continue to explore the numerous ways a client may move from evoking to planning, an approach that can be beneficial is for the clinician to provide a summary of all the change talk the client has expressed. The clinician is sharing back to the client all the motivations that have been verbalized. This can be a very powerful experience for the client if it is the first time they have heard all of their change talk reflected back at one time.
After the summary has been provided to the client, a key question should follow to see what the client may want to do moving forward. It provides a great opportunity to follow up on all the motivations offered by the client and to see if there is some movement towards behavior change. The clinician鈥檚 role is to reflect what the client has shared and then allow the client to decide where to go next.
There can be several ways to ask this key question, but the best strategy is to keep it simple. Here are some examples offered by Miller and Rollnick. See what you think about these questions or think about ways you may ask this key question:
鈥淪o where does all this leave you?鈥�
鈥淪o what are you thinking about [area of concern] at this point?鈥�
鈥淚 wonder what you might decide to do?鈥�
Again, the purpose is to provide the client with all of their reasons, desires, needs, etc. that they have expressed, and seeing if they want to move forward with a plan. It can be a profound experience for a client to hear back from the clinician all of their change talk at one time. It is also an opportunity for the clinician to reinforce client autonomy by asking where they want to go next.
A reminder here is that the key question is not asking for a commitment, and not putting pressure on the client to move towards change. If the client feels they are being forced into change, they will quickly become defensive and any momentum you may have gained could be lost. Take your time and allow the client to let you know where they are and how they want to proceed. I hope everyone is doing as well as possible and you have opportunities to use and practice motivational interviewing.
For more information about Motivational Interviewing or related services, contact Eunice Akinyi Okumu, by phone (919) 843-2532, or by email, eunice_okumu@med.unc.edu