What is Motivational Interviewing Therapy? 10 Coaching Practices to Try

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For What is Motivational Interviewing Therapy, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Practices that may help

1. 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.
2. 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
3. Use OARS to make the person feel understood
   Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, Summaries — the four core micro-skills.
   Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical
4. Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Stories That Define You
   Narrative therapy, developed by Michael White and David Epston, holds that people live by stories — about who they are, what they’re capable of, and what their experiences mean. By separating the person from the problem ("the person is not the problem; the problem is the problem") and finding "unique outcomes" that contradict a limiting story, therapy opens space to author a more empowering alternative. The evidence base is growing but smaller and less methodologically uniform than CBT.
5. 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
6. Practice self-reevaluation to build a new self-image
   Imagine how you will think and feel about yourself once you have changed — and how you’ll feel if you don’t.
   The Transtheoretical Model of Change, Made Practical
7. Surf motivation waves rather than engineering baseline motivation
   Motivation is unreliable and peaks are temporary — use high-motivation moments to redesign prompts and ability, not just to behave better.
   The Fogg Behavior Model, Made Practical
8. Action plans for low mood: if-then plans for the early warning signs
   Build a specific "if mood dips to X, I will do Y" plan before mood declines so it is ready when needed.
   Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Made Practical
9. Diagnose whether you are stuck on expectancy or value
   Before trying to motivate yourself, identify which of the two factors is actually low.
   Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
10. Use autonomy-supportive self-talk
    Coach yourself with choice and rationale, not "shoulds" and self-pressure.
    Self-Determination Theory, Made Usable

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• They tell me what kind of parent or partner they want to be, and it’s miles from how they’re actually living→
• In these conversations I fire off question after question like an interrogation, and the other person closes up rather than opening→
• I actually have useful information that could help them, but the moment I offer unsolicited advice they tune me out or bristle→
• My motivation for this keeps fading because it’s all external→
• Every so often I get this burst of fire→

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.