Clients have reasons for change, and reasons against change.

Motivational Interviewing brings us some specific skills that help us guide clients when they are stuck in ambivalence! Last week, I wrote about the importance of Change Talk. This week, I’m writing about what to do with it when we hear it! 

 But the first task is to hear it! 

#1 Catch It!

The first task is to listen for change talk! Catch it when you hear it! Grow your ears so they become big nets for catching change talk when you hear your clients say it. (What’s change talk? Briefly, change talk is their motivation for change. Why would they want to change? How could they change? What are their needs for change? Reasons to change? To learn more check out last week’s post on change talk). Change talk is our client’s why change. Why should this client change at this time? Sometimes they are little gems amidst lots of coal and rock of stuck language. Train those ears to catch it! Because we have to catch it when our clients say it in order to do #2!

#2 Reflect It!

Reflect the change that you hear! Use simple reflections or complex reflections. Essentially, restate the change talk you hear! Think about holding up the mirror to reflect what they said right back. We want our clients to hear that they know why they should change. “People learn what they believe by hearing themselves speak,” Blaise Pascal said. As you reflect their motivations for change, they become more connected to their motivation. 

#3 Pull for More!

Our next task is to utilize additional methods to increase the change talk. Get really curious. Ask evocative questions that pull for more change talk. “What makes this change important to you right now?” Use your OARS skills (I have YouTube playlist on OARS here!)! And there are a bunch more techniques that evoke more change talk. Perhaps utilize scaling questions (video on this here!), or other methods to inquire about the benefits of change.

What we are striving to do over the course of a Motivational Interviewing conversation is to build up the momentum and strength of change talk.

In doing this, we can support clients in resolving their ambivalence about change and move from that stuckness into actual change!

I use three gestures to remind learners of these change talk tasks. Check out my video for more!

Motivational Interviewing Tip of the Week: Catch it! Reflect It! Pull for More! Consider these three tasks when you start hearing a client talk about the “pro change” side of their ambivalence. I’ve got lots of videos on YouTube about these topics!

Watch my full video here!