MI Foundations
This is not a type of therapy, but a goal-oriented communication style, focused on the language of change.
What is the definition of Motivational Interviewing?
MI works well with teens partly because of this developmental drive that makes them resist being told what to do.
What is autonomy?
A common barrier in caregiver work, this emotional response often leads parents to become overly controlling.
What is parental anxiety?
Teens in mandated therapy often show high levels of this stance toward authority figures.
What is distrust or defensiveness?
A core challenge for teens in chaotic home or peer environments, this refers to limited ability to change their context.
What is limited autonomy?
These four components—Collaboration, Autonomy, Evocation, and Acceptance—make up this essential framework.
What is the Spirit of MI?
This approach allows teens to choose from 2–3 therapist-provided options to avoid the “I don’t know” shutdown.
What is autonomy-supportive menuing?
This MI-based family program includes four phases: self-assessment, clarification, feedback, and a change plan.
What is the Family Check-Up?
This MI strategy acknowledges limited choice while still offering meaningful options to the teen.
What are “Islands of Autonomy”?
While MI is effective for treatment, research shows it is less supported for this long-term goal.
What is relapse prevention?
This stage of change involves acknowledging a problem but feeling ambivalent about making a change.
What is Contemplation?
Because MI accepts harm-reduction, therapists often help teens do this rather than focus only on abstinence.
What is using substances more safely?
Using MI with caregivers often involves reframing this conflict pattern
What is the push–pull dynamic?
In mandated treatment, validating the teen’s frustration does this to their resistance.
What is reduces it?
This question—“What can you control?”—helps teens focus on influenceable factors despite their environment.
What is a control or locus-of-control question?
These four core MI skills include Open Questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and Summaries.
What is OARS?
This MI-based exercise asks teens to imagine themselves 6–12 months into the future to elicit motivation.
What is Future Self-Mapping?
A caregiver challenge, this occurs when the parent’s goals for treatment differ from the teen’s.
What is misaligned goals?
This core MI skill—central in mandated work—encourages therapists not to confront resistance directly.
What is rolling with resistance?
This MI strategy/intervention helps teens align decisions with personal meaning to boost motivation.
What is values exploration?
This type of client language (“I hate how expensive vapes are”) signals an internal desire or motivation to change.
What is Change Talk?
This type of talk (“I don’t see any issue with what I do”) signals resistance and a preference for the status quo.
What is Sustain Talk?
When bringing caregivers into the coalition, the therapist uses this MI principle to lower parental resistance.
What is collaboration (or the Spirit of MI)?
One reason mandated teens struggle to engage is because they lack this key type of motivation.
What is intrinsic motivation?
Relapse prevention can be strengthened by helping teens imagine this.
What is their future self or future identity?