Which practice best supports client readiness in Motivational Interviewing?

Which practice best supports client readiness in Motivational Interviewing?

• A. Provide expert directives without client input.
• B. Use open-ended questions to explore values, barriers, and motivations.
• C. Offer all information in a single long lecture.
• D. Avoid discussing barriers.

Answer: (B)

In Motivational Interviewing, the aim is to support a client’s own motivation and readiness to change through a collaborative, nonjudgmental conversation. Using open-ended questions to explore values, barriers, and motivations fits this approach perfectly because it invites the client to articulate why change matters to them, surface hesitations, and voice personal goals. This helps uncover ambivalence and builds intrinsic motivation, while the practitioner reflects and guides rather than imposes. The other approaches clash with MI principles: giving expert directives without client input undermines autonomy and collaboration; delivering a single long lecture is a one-way, information-dumping method that can trigger resistance; avoiding discussion of barriers misses opportunities to address real obstacles and ambivalence that affect readiness.

In Motivational Interviewing, the aim is to support a client’s own motivation and readiness to change through a collaborative, nonjudgmental conversation. Using open-ended questions to explore values, barriers, and motivations fits this approach perfectly because it invites the client to articulate why change matters to them, surface hesitations, and voice personal goals. This helps uncover ambivalence and builds intrinsic motivation, while the practitioner reflects and guides rather than imposes.

The other approaches clash with MI principles: giving expert directives without client input undermines autonomy and collaboration; delivering a single long lecture is a one-way, information-dumping method that can trigger resistance; avoiding discussion of barriers misses opportunities to address real obstacles and ambivalence that affect readiness.