Core Motivational Interviewing Skills (OARS+I)

Practitioners rely on five core communication skills, summarized as OARS: open questions that invite reflection, affirmations that recognize strengths and effort, reflections that test understanding and deepen exploration, and summaries that pull the conversation together. Listening for and strengthening change talk, softening sustain talk, and responding skillfully to discord are central to the MI method. Sustain talk and discord, while related, call for different practitioner responses.