Motivational Interviewing is derived from the psychotherapeutic approach of Carl Rogers and the Stages of Change literature.  I think Carl Rogers summed up his own philosophy best,   

In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth? – Carl Rogers

The Stages of Change come from the substance abuse treatment field.  Before successfully adopting a change, a person goes through the following stages: 1) Pre-contemplation 2) Contemplation 3) Preparation/Determination, 4) Action/Willpower and 5) Maintenance/Reoccurrence.  

Motivational Interviewing aims to facilitate the client’s movement through these five stages.  It also acknowledges that people are resistant to change when in the lower levels.  Change most effectively comes from within the person.  According to Rachel Galanter, the heart of Motivational Interviewing is partnership, acceptance, compassion, and evocation (PACE).  

Nurturing the Nurturer

What might this look like in the context of parenting services?  To successfully work with parents, we need to form a trusted Partnership.  Most programs offering parenting services  recognize that we benefit children best through partnership with their parents.  Thus, attention and effort are put into building a strong relationship with each parent, and focusing on the parent as the agent of change.  Acceptance refers to accurately affirming the parent’s importance, efficacy and strengths.  Compassion means showing empathy and understanding for the family’s situation. Evocation is drawing out feelings and thoughts about change from within the parent.  In Motivational Interviewing this is done by focusing on ‘change talk’ themes.  

What I particularly valued in Rachel Galanter’s workshop were the practical evocation strategies we can use in working with parents.  Our earlier blog posts on giving feedback to parents fit well with Motivational Interviewing. We discussed the importance of developing trusting partnerships as the foundation, affirming strengths, and supporting parents in reflecting on their own caregiving as part of the change process.  However,  practical evocation strategies are needed to develop thoughts about change from within the parent.  Being prepared with these strategies adds another tool to our tool box as we work with parents.

Rather than imposing one’s opinion on the parent, Motivational Interviewing recommends drawing out the parent’s thoughts and feelings about change.  By asking open-ended questions and inviting elaboration on the parent’s ‘change talk’, a skilled practitioner can move the parent through the stages of change.  Eventually, one hopes the parent will arrive at the decision to change and devise possible paths for growth.  When the decision to change comes from within, the commitment to change is much stronger.

In the Feedback Workshop we stress the importance of having the parent evaluate his or her  own parenting first.  Specifically, we recommend watching the KIPS parenting assessment video of the parent playing with his/her child, and asking the parent to first identify what went well.  Following that, we recommend asking the parent to find one thing – no more than two – which they might want to try to do differently.  Motivational interviewing gives us strategies for developing these conversations about change, the commitment, and possible paths to change from within the parent.

The challenging situation is when the parent doesn’t identify a change, yet the parenting assessment identifies opportunities for growth.  Evocation gives us strategies to draw out the opportunities for change from within the individual parent. We are going to add exercises building skills in evoking change talk using Motivational Interviewing strategies to the Feedback Workshop.  

Let’s end with a favorite quote on change:

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.- Nelson Mandela

By improving parenting we are changing the future. By working with parents of the youngest children we can have the greatest impact on a generation. Since people often parent as they were parented, by supporting nurturing parenting we have positive influence through generations.  In this way, educating parents, with the help of motivational interviewing strategies, can be a most powerful instrument of positive change.

 How do you evoke ‘change talk’ in parents?