What Is Motivational Interviewing?
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a form of collaborative conversation for strengthening a person's own motivation and commitment to change.
MI helps others become willing, able and ready for change. MI is designed to strengthen an individual's motivation for and movement toward a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person's own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.
MI has been shown to outperform traditional persuasion strategies (such as advice-giving, education, and confrontation) for promoting sustainable behavior change. In contrast to persuasion strategies that seek to compel change through external mechanisms, MI strengthens an individual's intrinsic motivation through enhancing willingness, ability and commitment for positive change. MI does not impose change, but rather supports sustainable change in a manner congruent with the person's own values, concerns, beliefs and wishes.
You can visit the official MINT Website at: www.motivationinterviewing.org
About Ali
Ali Hall (JD) is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and an independent consultant, trainer, and life coach, and recently served as a Lead Trainer for the International MINT Training for New Trainers (TNT) in Berlin.

I have been fortunate to have designed and facilitated more than twelve hundred Motivational Interviewing (MI) workshops for behavioral health clinicians, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, social services providers, health care practitioners and criminal justice professionals. I also regularly provide training for trainers in evidence-based practices.
I am a co-developer of the Motivational Interviewing Competency Assessment (MICA) evaluation tool. I regularly provide MI coding training using the MICA and Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) systems. I provide coding services and skill development coaching, as well as consultation to systems for establishing communities of practice and for effective, sustainable MI implementation. I often design and evaluate MI interventions for funded research.
I served as the primary subject matter expert, demonstrating counseling scenarios, and providing coaching in a community of practice session in a video series of MI with vulnerable youth (see psychotherapy.net for additional information). I am a co-author of an MI skill-building manual and toolkit, to be released in late 2017 by PESI Behavioral Health Continuing Education. I serve as a reviewer for the National Registry for Evidence-Based Practices and Programs (NREPP). I also regularly provide workshops in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), applications of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and integration of MI and skill building evidence-based practices.
I spent my undergraduate years at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and completed graduate studies in organizational behavior at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, as well as a J.D. at the Cornell University School of Law. In my spare time, I participate in marathon swimming events raising funds for under-resourced kid’s charities.