The Planning task of Motivational Interviewing and Brief Action Planning!
There are four tasks in Miller & Rollnicks’ Motivational Interviewing: Engagement, Focusing, Evoking & Planning.
The final task of Miller & Rollnicks’ MI, planning, is all about how our client is going to accomplish their desired change. Moving into planning is when we are moving from the why change into the how change!
Lots of us use tools like SMART goals, or perhaps other templates to create treatment plans with clients. Perhaps you don’t use a formal tool! Either way, Brief Action Planning (BAP) BAP integrates well into what you are already doing!
I learned about BAP a couple of years ago, and have found this tool to be a delightful addition to my MI toolkit! Even Miller & Rollnick write about BAP in their newest edition of the Motivational Interviewing book!
Miller and Rollnick (2023) discuss the MI-consistent use of BAP in Chapter 7 on Planning: “…when a person appears engaged and ready for action, there may be little need for evoking…BAP is a 5-step MI-consistent process designed to be completed within a few minutes.” (p.115).
BAP begins by asking, “Is there anything you would like to do for your health (or fill in the blank!) in the next week or two?”
If the answer is yes, you move through eliciting a specific plan, followed by a question scaling for confidence. Scaling questions are a core tool in Miller & Rollnick’s Motivational Interviewing.
“How confident are you in this plan, on a scale of 0-10?” If your client responds with confidence lower than a 7, it’s a clue to rework the plan in a way they can feel more confident about! Just adding this one step- scaling for confidence- has been a game changer for me!
Here is a free handy flowchart on BAP!
We have a FREE 1 hour webinar for you on BAP! Here is the link and more info!
This presentation provides an overview of the core principles and practice of BAP, and introduces learners to a novel integration of BAP and MI, called “BAP-MI.” Plus, it’s one FREE CE hour!
If you want an even deeper dive into BAP, there is a summer course that is enrolling right now through the BAP Network for up to 14 hours of CME or CE! Read more here!
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Let’s Learn Together!
Hi, I’m Hillary Bolter. At MI Center for Change, Motivational Interviewing is our passion. Motivational Interviewing will help you become more effective and efficient as you support clients’ change!
