Reviewer: Gary Kaniuk, PsyD (Cermak Health Services)Description: This book describes motivational interviewing, a concept developed in 1983 in order to help increase patient motivation and enhance behavioral change. Though initially used in dealing with alcoholism, motivational interviewing is now being used with other medical and psychological problems.Purpose: As stated in the preface, "the book is for any health care practitioner who spends time encouraging patients to consider behavior change." Later, in chapter one, the authors note, "This book was written to help you have productive conversations with patients about behavior change. In particular, we describe a gentle form of counseling known as motivational interviewing, which has been found effective in fostering change across a wide range of health behaviors."Audience: The target audience is broad, including nurses, doctors, dieticians, psychologists, counselors, health educators, dentists, dental hygienists, social workers, physical and occupational therapists, podiatrists, and "sometimes even people who answer the office telephones," according to the authors. All of the authors have published extensively. Dr. Rollnick is professor of health care communications at Cardiff University, Dr. Miller is emeritus distinguished professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of New Mexico, and Dr. Butler is professor of primary care medicine and head of the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Cardiff University. Features: The four guiding principles of motivational interviewing are: to resist the righting reflex; to understand and explore the patient's own motivations; to listen with empathy; and to empower the patient, encouraging hope and optimism. Motivational interviewing has been shown effective with substance abuse and other physical and psychological disorders such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, diet, hypertension, psychosis, pathological gambling, and HIV infection. This book is a step-by-step approach to learning motivational interviewing and it begins with theory, presents the core skills, and then shows how to integrate these skills in a clinical setting. Chapter eight is wonderful in presenting three case studies on how to use the method. There are also clinical examples in other chapters as well. Other nice features are the epilogue, which provides more information on the process, appendix A, aids to learning, and appendix B, a topical bibliography. The bibliography is helpful because readers can turn right to the disorder they want more research/information on. The book is easy to read and practical and the tables and figures are instructional. This is the kind of book that you can read and use the information soon after in a clinical situation. However, appendix A does contain dozens of references for more training in motivational interviewing. Assessment: This is a practical, easy to read book that is useful with both psychiatric and physical disorders. It has a solid research base since its development in 1983. Though concise, it can help clients consider making important behavioral changes in their lives which can affect both their psychological and physical functioning. Healthcare providers will find it to be a welcome addition to their libraries, both in terms of having another set of techniques to assist clients and because of its low cost.
"There are useful chapters on asking, listening, and informing skills that begin with general comments and then focus on specific skills and strategies for MI. The chapters are well illustrated with examples of dialogue from different settings....A number of case studies are given that relate ways in which health services is resonant with the respectful and collaborative nature of MI....The book has value for family physicians, general practitioners, and registrars who are interested in improving their communication skills, particularly in the area of brief behaviour change counselling. The simple yet powerful concepts regarding communication styles and skills will also be useful for teachers of communication skills."
South African Family Practice Journal
"The authors are leading authorities in motivational interviewing, having founded, developed, and written extensively on the topic over the past 25 years....For a broad range of frontline clinicians, including those who work in various medical specialties, the book gives useful insights that can have an immediate impact by making one's practice more productive and more enjoyable. For those with special interest in human behavior, particularly those in the mental health field, this book is a concise, highly readable introduction to motivational interviewing and will likely pique interest for further study of this powerful tool for promoting change."
"This book represents the latest thinking from the principal architects and researchers of Motivational Interviewing (MI)....This book is an excellent introduction to MI and has been written to help clinicians integrate this guiding style into their practice. It is crammed with techniques and draws on a wide range of clinical material to illustrate how they can be used....Although not explicitly written for work with adolescents, there is a great deal of useful and relevant material. This is a highly readable book and an excellent resource both for novice and experienced MI practitioners."
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Journal
The book will be of interest to any community health nurse who interacts with patients, in particular those who try to help clients manage chronic illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The authors provide a detailed framework for guiding behavioral change and offer a map for shifting interview styles with comfort, so that the practitioner can adopt the appropriate style for the client situation. This title is also suitable for adoption in classes and clinical labs that are focused on teaching students about helping relationships and about strategies for assisting patients to make a positive lifestyle change.”
Journal of Community Health Nursing
"Practitioners such as nurses, the largest group of health care providers, will welcome the opportunity to add MI to their toolkit....Recommended."
"Motivational Interviewing in Health Care offers a new approach in communicating for nurses—particularly providers treating patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity—and all health care professionals working to assist patients in making lifestyle changes for better health....As information technology relentlessly invades the realm of patient care, we find ourselves with less time to communicate with and teach our patients, so the time we do have must be optimized....In this book the reader is walked through and provided with positive steps to implement the MI guiding style of communication....Provides many examples of MI conversations, giving the reader insight into how MI communication works and is accomplished. I enjoyed the stories unfolding of how patients arrive at health change decisions, by themselves, if given the guided opportunity by an expert MI communicator. The book is a short, easy read which gave me food for thought and reinforced my continuing quest for a positive, therapeutic conversation with each of the patients. MI is also about caring for your own health."
"I highly recommend this book to directors of clinical services, analysts, therapists of all disciplines, and students. It has survived my usual skepticism for "new" approaches and has inspired me to seek training and supervision in MI."--Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
Will prove useful for practice nurses, health visitors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, general practitioners, and mental health professionals....Excellent.” (on the first edition)
Practitioners such as nurses, the largest group of health care providers, will welcome the opportunity to add MI to their toolkits....Recommended.” (on the first edition)
This book is an excellent introduction to MI and has been written to help clinicians integrate this guiding style into their practice. It is crammed with techniques and draws on a wide range of clinical material to illustrate how they can be used....Although not explicitly written for work with adolescents, there is a great deal of useful and relevant material. This is a highly readable book and an excellent resource both for novice and experienced MI practitioners.” (on the first edition)
Child and Adolescent Mental Health
This book is a helpful tool for all practitioners seeking a better commitment to behavior change in their patients. The skill set needed to accomplish the goal of behavior change is already developed in most clinicians. This book guides the reader through the process of honing those skills and switching effortlessly through the various methods of patient interaction to best achieve change.” (on the first edition)
Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
"Whether you are a health care professional-in-training or an experienced practitioner, this book is for you! The second edition is chock-full of information on current everyday challenges in a busy practice, including medication adherence, pain management, vaccine hesitancy, weight loss, addressing multiple behavior changes, working with hostile patients, and using MI remotely. The book weaves together the spirit of MI and micro-skills with newer processes of engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning, which are essential to facilitating behavior change. Highlights include practitioners’ reflections, practical exercises, annotated clinical scenarios, and sample open-ended questions for each process. This book can help you rediscover the joys of clinical work and prevent burnout by using MI to create more satisfying, efficient, and effective patient conversations."—Melanie A. Gold, DO, DMQ, Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Family Health, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Provides practical guidance on how clinicians in health care settings can apply MI to promote change in a range of health-related behaviors....Has the potential to make an important long-term impact on both individual and population health outcomes.” (on the first edition)
The book provides an excellent description of state-of-the-art patient-centered communication for both newbies and established practitioners who are looking for a refresher in MI spirit.” (on the first edition)
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
