Talking Oneself Into Change: Motivational Interviewing, Stages of Change, and Therapeutic Process

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a directive, person-centered clinical method for helping clients resolve ambivalence and move ahead with change. It can be applied as a preparation for treatment, a freestanding brief intervention, an enduring clinical style, or a fallback approach when motivational obstacles are encountered. A psycholinguistic theory is emerging to account for the efficacy of MI that has been demonstrated in numerous clinical trials. For cognitive therapists, MI provides an evidence-based alternative to direct disputation of client cognitions.