Motivational Interviewing to Save Time

New learners often say, “But I don’t have time to use Motivational Interviewing!”

They say this because there is often a fear that slowing down to engage and deeply listen to our clients will equate to wasted time accomplishing goals!

Yet Motivational Interviewing was designed for brief encounters!

There is a paradox at play here, which is that when we slow down, accept, and listen, we can actually facilitate change more quickly.

I love this quote:

“If you act like you’ve only got fifteen minutes, it will take all day. Act like you’ve got all day, it will take fifteen minutes.” -Monty Roberts

And that is not an easy thing to do as a helping professional that often feels rushed and pressure to accomplish goals!

Yet there are many paradoxes in working with people in their change journeys!

When people feel rushed, they tend to slow down. More ambivalence comes up, more parts that resist or push against the change, more skeptical, more scared.

When people don’t feel listened to, they spend more time trying to tell you all of the reasons why it’s hard to change.

Motivational Interviewing invites us to attune, accept, & listen. In doing this, we build engagement more rapidly and can facilitate growth more efficiently!

Here’s another quote for you from Carl Rogers himself:
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” Carl Rogers

Can you accept your client, get present, and deeply listen? 😉

Paradoxically, in doing this, we can more efficiently help facilitate change!

Motivational Interviewing Tip of the Week: What might it be like to practice accepting your client & where they are, right now? To slow down and ‘act like you have all day,’ even for just 15 minutes? Paradoxically, slowing down to deeply listen & attune to our clients often gets us there faster.