Examining motivational interviewing from a client agency perspective

Abstract

Although empirical investigations strongly support the use of motivational interviewing (MI), there is no theory to clearly explain how or why MI works. The authors propose that MI is efficacious because it mobilizes clients' inherent resources for motivation, learning, creativity, problem solving, and goal-driven activity. Examining MI from a client agency perspective reveals new ways of conceptualizing several critical issues, including MI's fundamental "spirit," the function of resolving ambivalence, the importance of change talk, MI's ability to combine well with other approaches, and the success of brief MI interventions. Implications for the science and practice of MI are discussed from the standpoint that clients are primarily responsible for driving therapeutic gains. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.