About Motivational Interviewing
Introduced in 1983, motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, person-centered way of having conversations about change. Through four core processes of engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning, MI unearths and builds upon a person’s intrinsic motivations for change. Specific strategies based on the psycholinguistics of change are applied within a spirit of partnership, acceptance, compassion, and evocation.
MI has been evaluated in more than a 1,000 controlled clinical trials and 100 meta-analyses. It complements and combines well with other evidence-based treatment methods. As a culturally adaptable approach, MI is being taught and practiced in at least 52 languages around the world, and in a wide range of helping professions.