Motivational Interviewing

Motivational Interviewing for Allied Health Professionals: Unlocking Client Motivation for Lasting Change

May 20, 2025

“How can I effectively motivate my patients?” This question resonates throughout the healthcare landscape. Whether you’re a physiotherapist guiding patients through rehabilitation exercises or a dietitian encouraging healthier lifestyle choices, eliciting motivation for sustained adherence can be challenging. The essence of effective motivation lies in recognising that intrinsic motivation—motivat... »

Principles and Techniques of Motivational Interviewing

January 12, 2015

If you have even a small track record of helping people change, you are familiar with the dynamics regarding change: client presents with problem (often precipitated by a crisis), becomes aware of compelling reasons to adopt a healthier lifestyle or cease harmful behaviours, and then hems and haws, straddling the fence with incomprehensible ambivalence. Persuading the client with logic, browbea... »

Motivational interviewing: Definitions, Spirit, and What It Is Not

August 27, 2014

The initial description of motivational interviewing (MI), provided by William Miller in 1983, has evolved through both clinical experience and empirical research into the evidence-based practice it is known as today. Differing from more “coercive” methods for motivating change, motivational interviewing does not impose change, but supports it in a way which is congruent with the person’s own valu... »

What is Motivational Interviewing?

June 6, 2014

The initial description of motivational interviewing (MI), provided by William Miller in 1983, has evolved through both clinical experience and empirical research into the evidence-based practice it is known as today. Differing from more “coercive” methods for motivating change, motivational interviewing does not impose change, but supports it in a way which is congruent with the person’s own valu... »

Motivational Interviewing Techniques

April 30, 2010

The fundamental approach to motivational interviewing interactions?contains the following four elements: »

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

November 30, 2009

Motivational enhancement is a style of person-centred counselling developed to facilitate change in health-related behaviours. The core principle of the approach is negotiation rather than conflict. It aims to help people explore and resolve their ambivalence about behaviour change. »

A Case of Domestic Violence

October 15, 2009

The client, Gary, called to make his first appointment and said he was persuaded by "a mate" to attend counselling to control his anger. In short Gary was a perpetrator of physical abuse against his intimate female partner, Julie, who is 22 years of age. The couple have no children but his partner has recently expressed a desire to have a child with him. The client is 28 years old and a labourer b... »

Motivational Enhancement with Eating Disorders

July 16, 2009

In this post, we look at how Motivational Enhancement Therapy can be applied to a practical situation. More specifically, we’ll discuss how counsellors can utilise this model to assist clients suffering from eating disorders. »

Evoking Change in a Client

April 7, 2009

There are several therapeutic approaches which are useful to improve clients’ readiness to change. It is important, however, to realise that all these strategies are based on the same suggestion: motivation to change is elicited from the client and not imposed from without. Using coercion, persuasion or constructive confrontation will achieve little if the client is simply “unready&rdq... »