Motivational Interviewing and Stages of Change: Integrating Best Practices for Substance Abuse Professionals

Hazelden — Motivational Interviewing and Stages of Change without CE Hours Test.
Hazelden — Motivational Interviewing and Stages of Change with CE test.
Motivational Interviewing and the Stages of Change is a workbook for applying MI and SOC principles in practice. It contains a guide to matching MI strategies to client stage of change, step-by-step instructions for applying these strategies in practice, and materials to aid in supervision of the MI/SOC approach.
If you have completed a workshop in Motivational Interviewing and/or the Stages of Change, and are wondering how to begin to apply your new skills, this book can help you bridge the gap between the workshop and the clinic.

The opening chapters comprise a review of basic principles of both the MI approach and the SOC model. Detailed charts outline which MI methods are likely to be a good fit with each stage of change. Included are brief quizzes that allow you to apply theoretical principles to practical examples.

Most of the book is made up of 13 semi-structured session guides, or “activities,” keyed to the stages of change – broadly classified as “opening the door to change,” “planning for and implementing change,” and “maintaining change.” These are supplemented with 6 activities geared toward adolescent clients and other special populations. Each activity begins with a chart listing the relevant stage and process of change, MI skills and strategies, and whether the activity is best suited for an individual, group, or family session. Each session guide also includes an explanation of the activity, detailed – but not overly structured – steps to completing the activity, and tips for successful implementation of the session. The instructions are deceptively simple and assume a fairly high level of skill on the part of the counselor. For an experienced counselor, they provide a nice balance of structure and flexibility.

Unique so far among practitioner-oriented books about MI/SOC are the materials to aid in assessment of one’s skill in applying the approach in practice. The authors include instructions for self, peer, or supervisor-driven use of brief checklists targeting specific skills. Don’t miss the valuable “at-a-glance” guides to practice in the back of the book! The book concludes with a chapter outlining implementation at the agency level and a number of resources for further learning.

Deborah H. A. Van Horn, Ph. D. – Originally posted January 13, 2005