Motivational Counseling

Robert PincusWalden University

Northwood High SchoolShreveport, Louisiana

rpincus@caddoschools.org

Objectives

• Review of person-centered counseling• Introduction to Motivational Interviewing– Philosophy– Examples

• Review of REBT• Combining theories to motivate students

Motivation

• Definition– Stimulus or Influence – Webster Dictionary– To incite – Dictionary.com

Motivational Interviewing (MI)

‘a directive, client-centred counselling style for eliciting

behaviour change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence.’

• (Miller and Rollnick, 2002)

Person-centered

• Technique– Directive questions(Carr & Smith, 2014)– Client-centered• Empathy, understanding, and unconditional positive

regard • Attentiveness• Reflections• Summarizing• Paraphrasing

Carl Rogers

• MI is based on the metalinguistic principles that people can talk themselves into change and that the practitioner’s job is to create the conditions for this ‘‘change talk’’ to occur (Carr & Smith, 2014).

• Carl Rogers self-actualization is evident in MI

MI in Schools

• Collaboration: ‘That the method of motivational interviewing involves exploration more than exhortation, and support rather than persuasion or argument.’ (Miller and Rollnick, 2002).

• Evocation: That MI is not about imparting information, but finding things within the person and drawing them out. It requires finding motivation for change from within the person and evoking it.

MI in Schools (cont.)

• Autonomy: Any responsibility for change is left with the client, no matter what the views of professionals. It is the client rather than the counselor that should ultimately present arguments for change (Miller and Rollnick, 2002).

Principals of MI

• Empathy (Enea & Dafinoiu, 2009).– Carl Rogers

• Developing discrepancy– “opening up people, helping them get over ambivalence

and fostering a positive attitude toward change” (p. 188).• Rolling with resistance

– “active involvement of the person in resolving his/her problems and it highlights the peculiarity of motivational interviewing, namely that the counselor does not fight the person’s resistance but rolls with it” (p. 188).

• Self-efficacy

Coaching technique

• MI allows for the counselor to supply information needed to assist the client in making a decision (Hettema et al., 2014).– Ask permission to share information– Find out what student knows about topic– Share the information– Find out how the knowledge affects the students’

decision-making process

OARS

• Open questions– How would you like things to be different?– What is good and less good about the change?– What do you think you will lose if you make the change?– What do you want to do next?

• Affirmations• Reflective Listening• Summarizing

– Give special attention to CHANGE STATEMENTS– Be aware of conflicting statements– Be prepared to set up an action plan

Strategies

• Focus on student committing to action change (Magill, Stout, & Apodaca, 2013).

• Behavior contract (Enea & Dafinoiu, 2009).• Goal setting– Reduce obstacles and hurdles

• Resources– Versus focusing on weakness

Helping with decision making(Rollnick et al, 1992)

Do not rush young people into making decisions about changing their behaviour

Present options for the future, rather than one single course of action

Emphasize that the young person is the expert in their own behaviour and may be the best judge of what is best for them

Resolutions to change often break down (as we know from our own attempts!).

Make sure the young person understands this and does not avoid contact if things go wrong

Commitment to change may be variable to the young person’s circumstances. Be sensitive to the their predicament.

Providing the MI wheel as a model for young people to evaluate their own behaviour

Stage 1PrethinkingNot ready to

change or not thinking about

change

Stage 2Thinking

Working out whether to

change behaviour

Stage 3DecidingDeciding

whether or not to change

behaviour

Stage 4Doing

Actually making a change

Stage 5MaintainingKeeping the

change going

Stage 6RelapsingAt times, things go

wrong when we are

changing our behaviour

Role of educators(Hardre et al., 2003)

• Foster situational engagement• Nurture interest• Promote the development of internal

motivational resources– Support students interests• Students value school more when it relates to their

interests

Video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcu8oqHIsbc

Self Determination Theory(Hardre & Reeve, 2003)

• Fostering an interest in learning• “Students become actively engaged in

educational activities to the extent that classroom endeavors affirm their competencies, and prove themselves to be interesting and relevant to students’ lives (p. 347)

Goals

• Definition– The result or achievement toward which effort is

directed; aim; end• Dictionary.com

• Long term goals• Short term goals

Long Term Goals

• Sports athlete• Fireman• Policeman• Teacher• CEO

Short Term Goals

• Police/Fire Academy• A.A. Degree• Training• Pass FCAT• High School Diploma

REBT

• REBT– Discuss obstacles for success– Teach ABCs – Consequences can be negative or positive

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

• ABCs

–Activating Event – the event that sets the student off from working towards a degree

–Beliefs – the irrational ideas that the student receives from the event

–Consequences – the end result of the combination of A and B

Example 1

• Activating event – Teacher in classroom constantly reminds student to continue working on project. If student talks to his friends for a second teacher is there.

• Belief – the student thinks the teacher hates him. He gets angry every time the teacher speaks to him

• Consequence – He refuses to work and mouths off to the teacher; resulting in a referral. He is suspended and loses several days of face-to-face instruction.

Resolution

• We can change A or B• In this case change B. The student realized it

was an irrational thought that the teacher hated him and picked on him. The rationalization is that he behaved poorly based on thoughts that were irrational

• This student picked up his academics after this breakthrough.

Example 2

• Student is acting out in class including walking out several times

• Student believes other students are talking about him due to a fight 4 weeks earlier. He believes when they are whispering it is about him

• Student gets behavior referrals from teacher and then ISS and possibly OSS

Resolution

• Counselor spoke to student and group about irrational thought. One student noted that she saw the fight and had forgotten about it completely. The student with the behavior issue had felt a particular student was treating him poorly – even in the group. Once he understood his belief was irrational he started working toward catching up in class and his behavior improved.

References• Carr, E. S., & Smith, Y. (2014). The poetics of therapeutic practice- Motivational interviewing and the

powers of pause. Culture, Medicine And Psychiatry, 38(1), 83-114.• Doran, N., Hohman, M., & Koutsenok, I. (2013). Motivational interviewing training in juvenile

corrections- A comparison of outside experts and internal trainers. Legal And Criminological Psychology, 18(2), 262-273.

• Enea, V., & Dafinoiu, I. (2009). Motivational/solution-focused intervention for reducing school truancy among adolescents. Journal Of Cognitive And Behavioral Psychotherapies, 9(2), 185-198.

• Hardre, P., & Reeve, J. (2003). A motivational model of rural students’ intentions to persist in, versus drop out of, high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 347-356.

• Hettema, J. E., Ernst, D., Williams, J. R., & Miller, K. J. (2014). Parallel processes- Using motivational interviewing as an implementation coaching strategy. The Journal Of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 41(3), 324-336.

• Homelessness Resource Center (2007). Motivational interviewing: OARS. Retrieved from; http://homeless.samhsa.gov/resource/motivational-interviewing-open-questions-affirmation-reflective-listening-and-summary-reflections-oars-32840.aspx

• Magill, M., Stout, R. L., & Apodaca, T. R. (2013). Therapist focus on ambivalence and commitment- A longitudinal analysis of Motivational Interviewing treatment ingredients. Psychology Of Addictive Behaviors, 27(3), 754-762.

• Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2002). Motivational interviewing: Preparing people for change (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.