Motivational Interviewing in Documentation: Getting it ‘Write’

I am sure this piques the interest of supervisors and helping professionals alike!

We are often asked by Motivational Interviewing learners, “How do I document that I used Motivational Interviewing?” Staff, agency leads and supervisors have reasons to add MI to documentation to demonstrate an evidence-based practice is being utilized by staff.

We also know that the MI intention and skills that we bring to encounters with clients or patients impacts the session and client outcomes.

So just how do we bring Motivational Interviewing into our documentation?

How do we document the spirit of MI, OARS skills, tasks, and skills?

Consider key phrases that relay the spirit of MI, such a

Collaborated on agenda with client…

Partnered with client on…

Elicited clients’ ideas/motivations about…

Empowered client to [set agenda, share successes, decide…]

Provided active listening

Demonstrated/expressed empathy by reflecting client perspective/underlying feelings

Normalized client ambivalence by…

Supported/ emphasized client autonomy by…

But there’s more! We also want to document MI skills used, and interventions across the four tasks of MI.

And how do we bring client-centered, non-judgemental language into the note when describing client responses, such as…

Client expressed ambivalence about…

Client stated their level of importance of making this change was…

Client’s values include…

Client voiced change talk which included…

Client voiced sustain talk which included…

Join me for this FREE 1 hour webinar with MINT member Judith Carpenter as we explore Motivational Interviewing in Documentation. Across two continents and two different disciplines, we will explore ways your MI skills can be documented!

Together, we will explore how we translate the Motivational Interviewing that we use in sessions. We will also consider awareness of suitable MI phrases for documentation to ensure that staff and agencies can evidence MI utilization in their encounters. We will give you a handout on these key phrases, which I am sure you can add to with your own! We will be providing a free 2-page “key phrases for MI in Documentation” handout to get you started.

Motivational Interviewing Tip of the Week: If you are using Motivational Interviewing in your sessions, consider the ways to document! What phrases occur to you to use that relay your MI intervention? The very focus of bringing Motivational Interviewing into our documentation can help us bring more MI into our sessions!