Ep 12 The Engaging Process, Enhancing Autonomy Support, & Self-Esteem in MI

Engaging and autonomy support in Motivational Interviewing

Glenn Hinds and Sebastian Kaplan welcome Dr Allan Zuckoff to Episode 12 of Talking to Change: A Motivational Interviewing Podcast. Allan is Vice President for Clinical Program Development at Vital Decisions, a company that provides MI-based telephonic advance care planning services to people with life-limiting illness. Allan is a clinical psychologist who spent more than two decades as a member of the departments of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he specialized in the development and study of MI interventions in substance abuse, mental health, and health behavior settings, with an emphasis on treatment engagement. A member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) since 1998, he has been Chair of MINT’s Board of Directors, editor of the MINT Bulletin and the online journal Motivational Interviewing: Training, Research, Implementation, Practice, and a trainer of trainers. In addition to journal articles and chapters, Allan is the author (with Dr. Bonnie Gorscak) of Finding Your Way to Change: How the Power of Motivational Interviewing Can Reveal What You Want and Help You Get There, the first self-guided application of MI, published by Guilford Press (https://www.guilford.com/books/Finding-Your-Way-to-Change/Allan-Zuckoff/9781462520404). In this episode Allan discusses a range of topics including the engaging task in Motivational Interviewing, ways of enhancing autonomy support, and the role of self-esteem in MI.

Engaging provides the relational foundation for effective MI. Allan explores how practitioners recognise engagement, how direction can coexist with respect for autonomy, and what happens when people experience pressure to change. Supporting autonomy means recognising that decisions ultimately belong to the person, while continuing to offer a purposeful and helpful conversation.

The discussion also considers practitioner development, relationship strength and engagement as a form of interpersonal connection. These themes link closely with Acceptance in Motivational Interviewing, particularly respect for autonomy, and with the collaborative Spirit of Motivational Interviewing.

In this episode

0:00 – Opening/introduction

5:15 – The engaging process

11:00 – Is engaging directional?

21:30 – Markers of engagement

28:30 – Pressure clients feel to change: Internal and external

32:00 – Balance between autonomy support and directionality

38:45 – How do we enhance autonomy support in our clients?

48:00 – Growing as a practitioner

54:00 – What do we notice in our clients that signals strength in our relationship?

1:01:30 – Engagement as a form of intimacy

1:06:00 – The role of self-esteem in MI

1:20:20 – End of recording

Listen to Episode 12

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Sebastian: sebkaplan34@gmail.com

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