Coaching Practiced

26 MI techniques: Recognising change talk

Jonathan Passmore

Abstract

This article is the fourth in a series which is drawn from the motivational interviewing approach. In this paper I will briefly review a ‘technique’ which is at the centre of effective use of MI, ‘Recognising change talk’ (previously known as ‘self-motivating statements’). The ability to recognise the type of change talk used by clients is a key skill of the MI practitioner and its content can usefully inform the practice of coaching psychologists.

Original publication details: Passmore, J. (2012, December). MI techniques: Recognising change talk. The Coaching Psychologist, 8(2), 107–110. Reproduced with permission of The British Psychological Society.

Recognising the relationship between the words being used by clients and what this indicates, in terms of the inner statement, is an important aspect of MI. Research indicates there is a strong relation ship between client words and client deeds (for a fuller discussion of this see Anstiss & Passmore, 2013).

In previous articles I have explored basic techniques from MI, but ones which could be used by coaching psychologists within their own practice. Some may argue that these techniques, such as decisional balance (balance sheet) are not unique to MI. However, recognising, categorising and using this categorisation to inform the next intervention is a distinctive feature of MI. While many coaching psychologists may acknowledge that their interventions are ...