Coaching Tools: Motivational Interviewing
What is Motivational Interviewing?
Developed by clinical psychologist Bill Miller & Stephen Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing (MI) is “a collaborative, goal-oriented coaching style with on focus on the language of change. Designed to elicit and explore people’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of compassion and acceptance.”
The goal is to evoke client’s interest in change — through validation, thoughtful questions, and holding space for ambivalence — while minimizing interest in staying the same.
The premise is that we rarely motivate somebody else to change. We’re better off helping them find their own motivation for change
Michael Pantalon, from Yale University, describes MI as a “methodology to spark behavior change by tapping into people’s natural drives, values, and goals through questions — as opposed to coercing, promising rewards, or threatening punishments.”
The Coach’s Role
Help the client cultivate intrinsic motivation — the personally meaningful reasons for change (hint: it’s very rarely about having a six pack)
Act as a mirror reflecting back client’s own beliefs and ideas about the world and themselves so they can see themselves more clearly & empower them examine their beliefs and behavior
Cultivate an environment of acceptance and hope. People often consider the advice or recommendation of people they respect and trust. We can build success and trust through:
Unconditional Positive Regard (Cals Rodgers, 1995): the belief that people have the resources within to bring about personal growth. They need your support to take responsibility for their behaviors and accept themselves as they are
“When... people experience being accepted as they are, they are free to change.”
Maintain Humility: we don’t what might motivate somebody to change, but we’re genuinely eager to find out.
Ambivalence 101
MI recognizes that client’s are often ambivalent — meaning have simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings — about change (i.e. a mother wanting to be fit to keep up with her children but going to the gym feels like taking away from their quality time). Ambivalence is often rooted in a discrepancy between an individual's values and actions.
And it’s important to note that this is a completely normal part of the change process
The solution is somewhat counterintuitive and uncomfortable: Spending time with ambivalence helps the client move through it.
We tend to avoid it because it’s uncomfortable to focus on conflicting priorities without making a decision.
BUT when the client recognizes the discrepancy between current choices and goals, motivation for change is likely to increase
As coaches, we can help our clients see how their current patterns conflict with their values or goals through curious, nonjudgemental questioning and reflective listening.
We start by listening for two types of phrasing, what MI practitioners call “change talk” and “sustain talk”
Change talk: remarks in favor of change (I know I should be going to the gym more) & often predicts actual behavior change
Sustain talk: remarks that support the status quo/staying the same (diets never work for me)
Based on what we hear, we can reflect, highlight, and question certain types of talk
🗣️ Change Talk
Client: “I really shouldn’t be snacking at night.”
Coach Tool: Reflect change talk back to the client → validation & reflection on how to implement.
”So you would like to be eating healthier at dinner?”
🗣️ Sustain Talk
Client: “Nothing ever works for me.”
Coach Tool: reflect + expand
”So you’ve never been able to lose weight. Tell me more about this”
🗣️ Change Talk + Sustain Talk
Client: “It’d be AWESOME to look good in a swimsuit again.. but I just love cake too much”
Coach Tool: reflect both sides so the client can hear the discrepancy and reflect on it
”You’d love to be in shape and your favorite food is cake.”
The Four Processes of MI
Engaging: connect with the client and understand what the client is trying to get out of the coaching experience or appointment
Explore personal reasons for change (instead of the usual expectation of what’s my plan?!). What are you hoping to get out of our time together? Tell me a bit about your dieting experience?
Utilize the “pygmalion effect”: instilling a belief in oneself in others; seeing their potential and treating them as such
Focusing: Getting clarity on the focus on the conversation; what changes, if any, is she interested in making?
Focus on one thing at a time — fitness/nutrition pros are notorious for focusing on too many things at once
Tame the Righting Reflex: giving unsolicited advice; the desire to jump in and fix problems (”What you need to do is...” or “Why don’t you just...”)
Evoking: building motivation for change; explore reasons for change and personal values
Evocation: the intent of questioning isn’t to quiz or collect data but to elicit certain feelings about behavior change; eliciting beliefs, feelings, ideas, and motivations; bring the unconscious to the conscious mind
Use Open-Ended Questioning to invite clients to share their stories, reflect on their dieting woes, and offer a new approach where lifestyle changes can be about variety, balance, moderation, and variety instead of deprivation, restriction, and avoidance
Planning: putting together the action steps, assessing obstacles, etc.
Common mistake is to jump here too fast. Don’t skip the steps above because they’re essential for generating motivation
The goal isn’t to tell somebody what to do: People like to be in charge of their own decisions and feel respected when they’re heard and their feelings are considered.
Clients typically know what they should be doing or changing but often have reasons why they don’t.
Usually you move here when the client has expressed an earnest desire to change.
Elicit-Provide-Elicit
Gather the info that a client already knows
Provide information that is relevant, useful, and brief
Elicit: Assess interest and understanding
Ultimately, the decision is up to the client and it needs to be genuinely respected by the coach
The OARS — MI Microskills
Open-Ended Questions (How.. Why.. What.. Tell me..)
Affirmations: acknowledging one’s strengths, values, or effort
“A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected.”
Reflections: reflecting back on what a person is thinking or feeling
Tool: provide two reflections for every one open-ended question
Always reflect change talk
Summaries: providing the full view of what has been shared; the story of the client as you understand it
Research, Interesting Notes, & Ideas to Remember
Arnaud Gagneur: applied MI intervention with mothers in the maternity ward after birth.
72% of mothers planned to vaccinate their children, after MI, 87% were on board
MI has been effective in helping people (Think Again, Adam Grant, pp. 149) stop smoking, abusing alcohol and drugs, & gambling
In general, people are terrible listeners. By cultivating great listening skills, we can immediately separate ourselves from other coaches. When trying to help people change, our impulse is to start talking.. In reality. the most effective way to help others open their mind is to listen.
Among managers rated as the worst listeners by they're employees, 94% of them evaluated themselves as good or very good listeners
In one poll, women said their pets were better listeners than their partners
On average, doctors interrupt their patients within 11 seconds
Listening is a lifestyle: it requires a genuine curiosity in another person that outweighs our desire to be right, prove ourselves, judge them, or protect the status quo\
The goal (according to the journalist Kim Murphy) is to help facilitate the clear expression of another person’s thoughts
Great listeners don’t try to look smart, they make others feel smart
Listening gives others out most valuable resource: our attention
You, in effect, have no control over your client's behaviors
A good coach is like a good journalist. The journalist isn’t the expert in the topic, but interviews experts in order to pull out a great story. Just as a journalist isn’t an authority on every topic, just as a coach isn’t an expert on every person. A journalist remains unbiased and keep an aura of curiosity
Behaviors are products of one’s values and beliefs
When people resist advice, it isn’t always because they disagree with it. Sometimes it’s because they feel pressured or like somebody else is controlling their decision.