Roots of Change: Creating Change Plans with Motivational Interviewing

Sometimes I get asked, “I make change plans with my clients, and then they don’t follow through. Why aren’t they following the plans we created?”

I’m going to tell a side story about planting a tree in my yard.

I am a ‘quick start’ type of personality. I see a problem, I see a solution, I want to jump in and fix it and get it done already!

I was given a tree to plant in my yard. I dug a hole, and was about to put the tree in the hole and pack it all up when I thought to pause and see if I was doing this right.

I called a friend who knew a thing or two about planting, and shared a picture of the hole I had dug to plant this tree into.

“Ah, yes, that’s a nice big hole, but it’s too deep and not wide enough. You also need to add some better soil, because you are dropping this tree into clay.”

So I took a little more time preparing for the planting of this tree. I filled in the depth of the hole a bit, I added half a bag of good soil, and then I dropped the new tree in its place. I added more good soil around the base of the tree, then watered this new tree.

I took the extra steps that it took to set this tree up for success as it is rooting into its new ground.

I think about the change process with our clients much like planting this tree.

We may see a quick solution and rush in to make a plan, but did we take the time to assess and cultivate the environment for the change?

Motivational Interviewing invites us to make sure we are focused on the right change, then evoke their motivations for that change before taking time to cultivate effective change plans that are rooted in the realities that will set them up for success!

Motivational Interviewing Tip of the Week: If our clients aren’t following through on the change plans we create with them, we can ask ourselves if we have taken the time to ‘nurture the soil’ first. We often see a problem, and jump in to a quick solution. But that quick solution might not be the right one, and MI invites us to consider why this change is so important and what will best contribute to the success of this change before jumping in!