Overview
Motivational Interviewing (MI), at its most basic, is a conversation about change. In Motivational Interviewing (4th Edition), Miller and Rollnick (2023) define this conversation as a “… particular way of talking with people about change and growth to strengthen their own motivation and commitment” (p 3). It begins with a premise that if people are pressured to change, they will push back and the likelihood of change actually decreases. Conversely, when given an opportunity to explore their reasons for change, people are more inclined to be convinced by their arguments. Using a strong belief in the tendency of people towards growth and the importance of autonomy in decision-making, MI guides people to explore their reasons for changing.
Is Motivational Interviewing Evidence-Based?
MI is now a well-established evidence-based practice, with a research base that spans behavioral health, medicine, education, and social services and its reach extends to coaches, dentists, criminal justice officers, schoolteachers, nurses, and parents, to name a few. MI use is supported by the MI Network of Trainers, and by a research base that includes more than 2,600 controlled trials of MI with a comparison group, and a compendium of books, videos, media, and podcasts for understanding and using Motivational Interviewing.
What is the Spirit of Motivational Interviewing?
MI is more than a set of techniques; it rests on an underlying mindset, or spirit, made up of four elements: partnership (working with people rather than on them), acceptance (honoring each person’s worth, autonomy, strengths, and perspective), compassion (prioritizing the other person’s welfare), and envisioning (helping people see and move toward the possibilities before them). Miller and Rollnick (2023) describe this spirit as the foundation on which MI conversations are built.
The Four Processes of Motivational Interviewing
MI conversations move through what Miller and Rollnick initially saw as four overlapping processes, but now refer to as Tasks of MI. Rosengren’s Building Motivational Interviewing Skills (3rd Ed) refines this idea further and suggests that MI conversations move through four zones. Unlike a checklist, these zones are fluid and overlapping. Practitioners move back and forth between them, both within and across sessions, guided by where the client is in their process; this is not a fixed sequence.
Engaging — establishing a trusting, collaborative working relationship.
Focusing — developing and maintaining a shared direction for the conversation.
Evoking — drawing out the person’s own reasons for change (change talk) rather than supplying reasons for them.
Planning — building commitment and shaping a concrete plan once the person is ready.
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.
Where Motivational Interviewing Is Used
MI is applied across settings: substance use and behavioral health treatment, primary and specialty medical care, dentistry and oral health, nursing and health coaching, criminal justice and probation, child welfare, education and school counseling, workplace wellness, and parenting. It is used in individual sessions, group facilitation, brief consultations, and telehealth, and it is often paired with other evidence-based approaches rather than replacing them.
Our Motivational Interviewing Expertise
Prime For Life has a rich background in MI and in the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). Prime For Life MINT members include Derek Jorden, Director of Training, Julie Schumacher, Director of Research, David Rosengren, CEO, and Ray Daugherty, Prime For Life Founder. The late Michelle Stephen Seigel was also a MINT member. Drs. Schumacher and Rosengren have also written books for learning and applying MI. Julie is co-author of Fundamentals of motivational interviewing: Tips and strategies for addressing common clinical challenges (Schumacher, J. A., & Madson, M. B., 2015). Oxford University Press. David is the author of Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook (3rd ed., forthcoming, Guilford Press), the most practice-focused MI workbook available, and co-author of Experiencing Motivational Interviewing from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Practitioners (Rosengren, Johnston, & Hilton, 2025) He was also one of the founding members of MINT and is a Certified MINT Trainer.
How MI Is Built into Prime Programs
MI is infused within the Prime programs at both a relationship and a skill level. For example, within Prime For Life, reflection questions are written to elicit client change talk and then instructors are taught to reflect this change talk. Practitioners of Prime programs are taught to create a nonjudgmental atmosphere within which clients can explore difficult realities of their lives. The way of being with people encouraged by MI is part of what Prime For Life Training programs also teach. When points of discord are encountered, instructors use tactics consistent with MI techniques like reflecting, shifting focus and emphasizing personal choice.
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