Motivational Interviewing for SELF Change!

You may be recovering from the intensity of the holidays, or perhaps your holiday season was rejuvenating and nourishing. Or, a little of both?!

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Don’t fall into the New Year’s Resolutions trap! Only 9% of people actually complete New Year’s Resolutions.

Don’t be a statistic! 😉

OK, that’s my unsolicited advice and warning (which, if you know MI is definitely non-adherent, and typically doesn’t work).

Now for some Free Motivational Interviewing!

We know Motivational Interviewing is an incredibly effective conversation style to use with clients who are struggling with ambivalence and change. (In fact, 1800 clinical trials and counting!)

But can Motivational Interviewing be applied towards SELF-change? 

YES!

And I have made some free Motivational Interviewing handouts to support you if you decide to set any intentions in this new year. (Plus, these handouts are absolutely client friendly!)

There are 3 Free Motivational Interviewing Handouts I’ve Created to Support Your Change:

1. Agenda Mapping: This first handout is a Motivational Interviewing tool designed to do a brain dump and get out all of the possible changes. It can feel so cluttered and overwhelming to consider, “I should get to bed earlier, spend less time scrolling, exercise more, start a mindfulness practice, be kinder to my ____…” Get it out of your head and onto paper. Once you do, you can decide what, if any, changes you want to pursue.

 

2. WHY Change: This is a big element of Motivational Interviewing, anchoring in to the WHY. What exactly is motivating you to change? Is it for someone else? A cultural expectation? Or something inside of you around a deeply held value or belief that drives the change. This handout helps you dive deeper into your WHY. And sometimes, when you peek more closely at your WHY, you realize it’s not really that important right now, and you can release it! 

 

3. Plan It: An effective change plan is essential to the process of change! In this handout, I weave in some questions from Motivational Interviewing and Brief Action Planning (BAP) to help you get specific and attainable. A plan that is too broad or not attainable won’t work! This worksheet turns the goal from “Exercise More” to “Start walking 20 minutes three times a week on Tuesday and Thursday at 5p with my coworker Alice, and half an hour on Saturday mornings with my partner Dion beginning on January 3rd. And if it’s raining or too cold, I will do a 15 min YouTube workout video during that time from the Fit Body By Ashley channel.” So if you decide you want to make a ‘New Years Resolution,’ turn it into an attainable plan!

Here are those free Motivational Interviewing downloads! 

Also, MI trainer buddy of mine, Dr. Michelle Drapkin, has written a book about this very topic! Her book is currently at the publisher, due out in 2023. You can connect to her on LinkedIn to follow her progress here!

And MI trainer Allan Zuckoff already has a book on this topic too! Here is the link for more on his book!

Motivational Interviewing Tip of the Week: Creating broad sweeping resolutions often leads to no real change, plus feeling crappy that you tried and failed. We invite you to use Motivational Interviewing skills to take a few minutes to brainstorm potential changes, anchor into your WHY, and create a specific action plan to support real and lasting change. Plus, all of these tools are immediately applicable for client work too! Access your free Motivational Interviewing downloads here!

Many blessings in this New Year!

Watch my full video here!