Motivational Interviewing Tips: 10 Evidence-Based Coaching Practices
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Motivational Interviewing Tips, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Practices that may help
- Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style that strengthens a person’s own motivation for change by drawing out their reasons rather than supplying them. Meta-analyses find small-to-moderate effects across health behaviors — modest on average, but reliably better than confrontational or advice-giving styles, which can backfire. - Evoke change talk instead of supplying it
Ask questions that lead the person to voice their own reasons for changing.
Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical - Share advice with permission (ask–offer–ask)
Ask what they know, offer information with consent, then ask what they make of it.
Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical - Develop discrepancy between values and behavior
Gently hold up the gap between what the person wants and what they’re doing.
Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical - Scale importance and confidence with the readiness ruler
Ask “On a 0–10 scale, how ready are you?” — then ask why not lower.
Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical - Use OARS to make the person feel understood
Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, Summaries — the four core micro-skills.
Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical - Prime identity before the ask — "what kind of person are you?"
Invite the person to describe who they are in terms that align with the behavior you’re requesting.
Pre-Suasion, Made Practical - Powerful open questions at every stage
Ask questions that invite thinking, not ones that suggest answers — and ask more than you tell.
The GROW Coaching Model, Made Practical - Ask reflective questions instead of giving answers
Questions that prompt self-examination invite the person in; directives keep them out.
Psychological Reactance: Working With the Push-Back Reflex - Close every informational interview with one forward step
End by asking: "Is there someone else you think I should talk to?"
Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- Every time I lay out for someone all the reasons they should change, they just argue back for staying exactly as they are
- I actually have useful information that could help them, but the moment I offer unsolicited advice they tune me out or bristle
- They tell me what kind of parent or partner they want to be, and it’s miles from how they’re actually living
- They say they want to change but they’re clearly half-in, half-out, and I can’t tell whether it’s that the change doesn’t matter enough to them or that they just don’t believe they could actually pull it off.
- In these conversations I fire off question after question like an interrogation, and the other person closes up rather than opening
Related concerns
- Best Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style that strengthens a person’s own motivation for change by drawing out their reasons rather than supplying them. Meta-analyses find small-to-moderate effects across health behaviors — modest on average, but reliably better than confrontational or advice-giving styles, which can backfire.
- How To Start Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style that strengthens a person’s own motivation for change by drawing out their reasons rather than supplying them. Meta-analyses find small-to-moderate effects across health behaviors — modest on average, but reliably better than confrontational or advice-giving styles, which can backfire.
- Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style that strengthens a person’s own motivation for change by drawing out their reasons rather than supplying them. Meta-analyses find small-to-moderate effects across health behaviors — modest on average, but reliably better than confrontational or advice-giving styles, which can backfire.
- Motivational Interviewing Exercises
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style that strengthens a person’s own motivation for change by drawing out their reasons rather than supplying them. Meta-analyses find small-to-moderate effects across health behaviors — modest on average, but reliably better than confrontational or advice-giving styles, which can backfire.
- Motivational Interviewing Questions
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style that strengthens a person’s own motivation for change by drawing out their reasons rather than supplying them. Meta-analyses find small-to-moderate effects across health behaviors — modest on average, but reliably better than confrontational or advice-giving styles, which can backfire.
- Motivational Interviewing Techniques In Counseling
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style that strengthens a person’s own motivation for change by drawing out their reasons rather than supplying them. Meta-analyses find small-to-moderate effects across health behaviors — modest on average, but reliably better than confrontational or advice-giving styles, which can backfire.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.