Before coming to your training, please do the following:
The Motivational Interviewing (MI) technique is composed of several unique skills and qualities which foster mutual understanding, trust, and respect. During this lesson, ponder the following questions:
This lesson will give you a deeper understanding of communication skills and techniques that are of utmost importance, especially while engaging in MI. These qualities can be remembered with the acronym OARS: open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries. You will come to understand how each component contributes to the communication process, and also how components complement one another for effective MI.
Imagine that you are facing these rapids. How important is it to have an oar to guide you through them? What would it be like if you tried to get through these rapids without an oar?
This is very similar to helping individuals work through resistance and gain motivation to change. The OARS method of Motivational Interviewing makes the process possible. It is also important to note that each of these skills should be used in conjunction with one another.
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
Read 1 Nephi 11:2–3, 9–11 (stop at “thereof”). Then discuss the following questions:
Read the following quote:
“Open-ended questions facilitate a client's response to questions from his or her own perspective and from the area(s) that are deemed important or relevant. This provides the opportunity for clients to express their point of view, and for counselors to discover and follow the client's perspective. This is in contrast to closed questions that are leading; they target specific information and give the client very little room to move. Example open question: 'What makes you think you should make a change?' (Following). Example closed question: 'Don't you think you drink too much?' (Leading). Another distinction between open and closed questions is that open questions elicit fuller responses where closed questions can often be given a yes or no response” (Kathleen Sciacca, “Motivational Interviewing—MI, Glossary & Fact Sheet” [2009], 4).
Discuss the following questions:
Share examples of open-ended questions you and others can use as you work with associates.
Rewrite each of the following closed questions as open-ended questions. Try to determine two open-ended questions for each.
Think of two closed-ended questions you have used recently and convert them into open-ended questions.
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
Read the following quote:
“Affirming means to actively listen for the client's strengths, values, aspirations and positive qualities and to reflect those to the client in an affirming manner. Example: client discusses many previous efforts to change a particular behavior from the position of feeling like a failure or hopelessness. Counselor reframes (from a negative to positive perspective) and affirms. 'What I am hearing is that it is very important to you to change this behavior. You have made numerous efforts over a long period of time. It seems that you have not found the way that works for you.' This reframe accomplishes both affirming the client for his or her efforts and perseverance and provides a framework for the client and counselor that entails finding a solution that will work for the client. This is in keeping with collaborative change plans that are used in motivational interviewing” (Kathleen Sciacca, “Motivational Interviewing—MI, Glossary & Fact Sheet,” 4; italics in original).
Discuss the following questions:
Rosengren provides a few ideas on how to do affirmations (see Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook [2009], 62). Review the bullet points on page 62. Remember that the more authentic the affirmation, the more power it has to reinforce the leading indicators of work adjustment.
Individually, think of an associate you are working with.
Record a few affirming sentences. Share with the rest of the group one of the affirmations you wrote.
Rewrite the following statements of praise as statements of affirmation:
Discuss as a group what you learned from the exercise.
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
Throughout the Book of Mormon, the prophet Mormon enhances the book with summaries (for example, see Alma 24:19). Just as Mormon's summaries clarify messages in the Book of Mormon, a good summary used in a conversation with an associate can add focus to a conversation.
Read the following quote:
“Summaries are essentially reflections that pull together several things that a person has told you. They can also be affirming because they imply, 'I remember what you tell me and want to understand how it fits together.' Summaries also help clients to hold and reflect on the various experiences they have expressed. They not only hear themselves describing their experiences, but they also hear you reflect what they have said in a way that encourages them to continue” (William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 66–67).
Discuss:
Read “Exercise 4.5. Building Summaries” (David B. Rosengren, Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook, 85). Then write a summary of what you understood from the client as if you were to summarize the conversation to the client. Share your summary with the rest of the group.
Finally, as a group, discuss what you have learned from doing this activity.
Divide into pairs and practice using OARS with your partner. One of you will be an associate who is willing to discuss a change he or she is thinking of making. The other will play the job coach trainer, who should use OARS to motivate change. After five minutes, switch roles.
Seek to identify a personal or business gap or need.
Spend a few minutes silently pondering what you've discussed during this lesson. Listen as the Holy Ghost helps you identify areas where you can improve. Record your impressions in your learner's journal under the question “What Lack I Yet?”
Seek ways to close the gap or develop the required talent(s) to meet the need.
With the guidance of the Spirit, create your plan of how you will improve and close the gap(s) you have identified. You may use one or more of the exercises below, your own strategy, or a combination of both. Record this plan in your learner's journal under “What Must I Do?”
After a few minutes, those who are comfortable doing so can share their impressions with the group.
Seek understanding, and then share what you learned.
During the week, focus on implementing the plan you created. Record your impressions or lessons learned in your learner's journal under “Therefore, What?” You will be given time at the beginning of next week's lesson to share your experience with the group.