If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is,
but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be,

he will become what he ought to be and could be.

-JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

William Miller and Stephen Rollnick, the founders of Motivational Interviewing (MI), could not have chosen a more fitting quote to describe their profoundly effective therapeutic approach. What's so profound or compelling about it, you ask? Let me ask you this: Can you recall a moment wherein you felt empowered to do something difficult simply because somebody believed you could? If your answer is yes--and I sincerely hope it is-- you have experienced the spirit of MI.

MI is an evidence-based practice with depth and broad applications. For this course, we will concentrate on two main parts: the spirit of MI and the basic skill set of MI.

Before releasing the latest edition of their book, Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, Miller and Rollnick recognized that something was missing in how clinicians practiced MI. Some using the technique were taking a rather nuts-and-bolts approach. While their method may have been technically sound, it was not artful. It was not imbued with the spirit of MI that makes its effect powerful and enduring. The authors said it was like learning the words of a song but not the music.

To remedy that, they added a new section to the latest edition, bringing the spirit of motivational interviewing work to life. That spirit is held aloft by the following precepts: Compassion, Acceptance, Partnership, Evocation, or the acronym CAPE.

Compassion

• Absolute Worth The opposite of judgment is what Carl Rogers referred to as "unconditionally positive regard," or accepting a person as one of inherent worth just as s/he is. When people experience themselves as judged, their ability to change is blocked. When they experience themselves as acceptable and significant through the eyes of another, they are liberated to make a positive change. Like a plant in nutritious soil, they move upward toward the light.

• Accurate Empathy To understand what accurate empathy is, we must first understand what it is not. It is not sympathy, pity, or self-identification. Instead, it is the ability to untether oneself from a personal perspective and take that of another. It does not seek to fix. Instead, it strives earnestly to hear and understand the person's experience and reflect back to the person what was heard and understood. Empathy says, "When that happened, you felt (insert emotion here)? Is that right?" Then, empathy listens for what this writer calls "the click." You'll know you achieved it when the person to whom you are listening, understanding, and reflecting responds by saying, "Yes! That's it exactly!" It clicks. I could go on and on trying to explain, but I think it would be best to call upon the brilliance of Dr. Brene Brown and animator Katy Davis to help us out. Click on the play button to watch the video below. For an accessible transcript of the video, click here: Brené Brown on Empathy Accessible Transcript.docx

• Autonomy MI does not coerce, manipulate, or control. It does not demand, "You can't do (this or that)!" knowing full well that such words will only drive people to do this or that. Instead, it seeks to honor people's irrevocable freedom to choose their own paths regardless of the consequences. When granted the freedom to choose, people will move—more often than not—in a positive direction.

• Affirmation: Unlike an assessment that works to identify what is wrong and fix it, affirmation intentionally looks for what is right and seeks to illuminate it. It shines a light on accomplishments, big and small, but also on attempts toward accomplishment. The light of affirmation nourishes the soul and fuels forward momentum.

Evocation

An evaluation is conducted to identify a deficit, which may be remediated by a specialist with a solution. Evocation, on the other hand, endeavors to call forth solutions that already exist within an individual.

Evocation could be likened to Dorothy's ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz. All the homesick Dorothy had to do to return home was click her heels and intone, "There's no place like home." She had her solution the whole time. Like Dorothy, we carry our own wisdom and solutions wherever we go. We might need some assistance calling them forth.