Motivational Interviewing

Recently I was spending time with an older adult, and he said to me: “Life really doesn’t need to be that long. I’m already in my 80s, why would I still go exercise and work out? I already go out and walk several times a day, that’s already very good!” Honestly, the first half—“life doesn’t need to be that long”—stumped me. That’s a question about the meaning of life, not something I can answer in a few sentences in clinic. But the second half—“walking several times is enough”—happens to be my own specialty, and I’m confident about this: walking is great, but for an 80-something older adult, relying just on walking really isn’t quite enough. I’ll start from here in the rest of this post. ...

First, the most important sentence: the harder you push someone to change, the more they will defend “not changing”; letting them state their own reasons for wanting to change is how change actually happens. This conversational method is called “motivational interviewing.” Healthcare professionals use it to talk to patients about quitting smoking, exercising, and controlling blood sugar, but it works just as well for persuading your parents to exercise or your partner to see a doctor. ...