As you start using motivational interviewing, you’ll constantly come back to these 4 core skills that will form the foundation of every conversation you’ll ever have – whether you’re talking to your patients or your best friend.

Core Skills:

• Open questions
• Affirmations
• Reflections
• Summarizing

Each of these skills are used to ensure open dialogue and exchange of information. Sharing information is considered a “two-way street” where both people are learning what the other knows. The more comfortable you become using motivational interviewing, the more natural each skill will feel.

How To Use The Core Skills:

The process of using these core skills has 4 key parts. Each comes together when you’re doing nutrition counseling to support a conversation that stays focused on your patient and empowers them to be in control of their own goal setting. 

1. ENGAGING

At its core, motivational interviewing is about being curious. It’s about engaging your client with empathy and by remaining non-judgmental throughout the conversation. 

Begin to establish a relationship with your patient by listening and asking questions that promote your patient’s autonomy and affirm their own strengths.

2. EVOKING

Motivational interviewing is also about giving your patient full autonomy to make – or not make – any change they want. When you ask questions, you’ll evoke a clear picture of what your patient is really interested in doing.

Explore the WHY or reasoning behind a potential change. Further acknowledge and normalize ambivalence, and you’ll become clear about your patient’s stage of change and desire to set clear goals.

3. FOCUSING

This process of counseling is not a quick-fix and won’t suddenly provide magical solutions for your patients. What it will do, is give you a chance to help your patient get focused on what is most important to them. 

An agenda is decided on by your patient – and supported by you – that allows your patient to identify their own values and goals. This mutually agreed on agenda creates a “shared purpose” that allows you to start discussing change opportunities.

4. PLANNING

The mutual agreement you’ve decided on with your patient, supports them in planning how to make purposeful change, as they go through the (often complex) movement between being ready to change, believing they can change, and thinking change isn’t worth the effort.

Developing a direction and set of next steps based on client’s values, goals and desires is key to planning and executing successful changes.