What is Motivational Interviewing?

1. “Motivational” (a reason for action) comes from you.  Only you are capable of positive change, but change is often difficult.
2. “Interviewing” is a caring conversation to clarify how you feel, what’s bothering you and what, if anything, you want to do about it.
3. The therapist is an excellent listener and able to summarize and understand really well what you say and how you feel.
4. No one is trying to talk you into changing (that’s pretty much useless) but it helps to have someone to guide the exploration of possible change.
5. The therapy is about moving from the feeling that nothing is going to change, to commitment and a plan of action (if you want).