Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a counseling style and way of being with an individual in which the counselor becomes a helper in the change process. The motivational interviewing style generally is founded in principles of the provision of empathy through reflective listening, identifying discrepancies between client goals, values, and current behavior, avoiding confrontation, adjusting to client resistance, the provision of support and optimism, and the enhancement of self efficacy. This style is aimed at helping clients to resolve ambivalence about behavior change. Motivational interviewing was examined for its effects on anxiety, depression, and fatigue in patients with cancer.