Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an empirically supported counseling approach that facilitates a client's recognition and resolution of ambivalence about changing his or her behavior. Originally implemented in substance abuse counseling, it has been found in subsequent studies to be effective in modifying a variety of risk-related behaviors. The utilization of MI has been growing in community corrections settings for both staff-offender interactions and staff-supervisor interactions as agencies have moved toward implementation of evidence-based practices. Within community corrections, MI is applied with the underlying assumption that offender motivation is not a fixed trait and that, with the appropriate environment, rehabilitation efforts, and interaction with community supervision officers, offenders have the ability to increase their level of motivation to achieve behavioral change. Experts note that MI might be especially useful in community corrections settings, because it is empirically supported in related fields, emphasizes offender responsibility through self-motivational speech, and allows for client-officer engagement in positive behavioral change discussions, including addressing with clients how to handle resistance and other difficult situations.

The interview and counseling style of MI encourages adherence to four key principles: expressing empathy for the client's perspective, developing a distinction between the client's values and the client's behavior, diffusing client resistance, and supporting the client's self-efficacy. Under the MI model, probation officers are expected to express empathy with offenders by presenting a genuine understanding of the offender's predicament as he or she is going through the cycle of behavioral change. In their interactions, officers must practice active listening and reflect on the offender's verbalizations, while also avoiding arguments with the offender.

MI challenges how much an offender wants to change, which may provoke arguments and, in turn, increase the offender's resistance to change; consequently, it is important for probation officers to encourage offenders to talk about change, as opposed to arguing. By supporting offenders in making positive statements regarding their sense of self-efficacy, probation officers provide offenders with the ability to reframe their thinking patterns. Moreover, when an offender does display resistance to change throughout different stages of the change process, probation officers can address the situation by “rolling with resistance.” This is accomplished by delicately challenging the offender through questions, clarifying, and elaborating upon the thought processes that underlie the behavior that is the target of change. Finally, it is important for the offender to have specific goals toward which he or she wants to work and for the officer to identify the discrepancies that exist between the present situation and how the offender's goals will be achieved.

Under the motivational interviewing (MI) model, probation officers should use empathy with offenders and conduct themselves in a nonconfrontational manner. MI counseling and interviewing has been found effective in modifying many risk-related behaviors.

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Probation officers can use many motivational interviewing techniques when interacting with clients to promote a behavioral change. The work of W. R. Miller and S. Rollnick includes a discussion of some of the specific motivational interviewing techniques that should be used in community corrections, such as asking open-ended questions, engaging in reflective listening, expressing positive affirmations and support, summarizing what the offender has stated, eliciting self-motivational statements, elaborating on motivational topics, using extremes in examples, looking backward and forward, and exploring the offender's goals.

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