Ep 3 The Four Processes
The four processes of Motivational Interviewing
How do the Four Processes of Motivational Interviewing guide a conversation about change? In Episode 3 of Talking to Change, Glenn Hinds and Sebastian Kaplan explore Engaging, Focusing, Evoking and Planning, and how an MI conversation can develop from establishing a helpful working relationship through to strengthening motivation and, when appropriate, planning for change.
Engaging involves developing a collaborative relationship and understanding the person’s perspective. Focusing helps practitioner and client develop clarity about the direction of the conversation. Evoking draws out the person’s own motivations, values and arguments for change. Planning becomes relevant when there is sufficient readiness to consider how change might happen.
Glenn and Sebastian also demonstrate these processes through an MI conversation about smoking. The demonstration illustrates that the processes are not rigid stages. Practitioners may move between them as the conversation develops, returning to engagement or focus whenever this is helpful.
In this episode
- Engaging and developing a collaborative working relationship
- Focusing and agreeing the direction of the conversation
- Evoking the person’s own motivations and arguments for change
- Planning when there is sufficient readiness for change
- A Motivational Interviewing demonstration about smoking cessation
- Moving flexibly between the processes as the conversation develops
From Four Processes to Four Tasks
Update: This episode was recorded in 2018 and uses the Four Processes terminology current at the time. In the fourth edition of Motivational Interviewing, these are described as the Four Tasks of Motivational Interviewing: Engaging, Focusing, Evoking and Planning.
Listen to Episode 3: The Four Processes
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