“Evoking” measures the extent to which the practitioner elicits the client’s perspective on their own thoughts, barriers, knowledge, feelings, ideas, motivators, goals, values and solutions regarding the target behavior and change.… read more

“Partnering” measures the extent to which the practitioner fosters a collaborative process with the client as two equal partners who are working together towards the client’s goals. The client is the acknowledged decision-maker regarding their life and is supported in the lead role.… read more

Early learners may begin to offer content- or surface-level reflections. This is the beginning of good news, as the learner can be encouraged to write down some of the client’s statements and the simple reflection they offered.… read more

When encountering sustain talk, the learner may be unsure—they know it will not be helpful to continue embracing sustain talk yet be unsure how to leverage forward to where change talk might live.… read more

“Forward reflections” can help a client feel heard for the water that’s already starting to move in the creek, even if a trickle. “You’re already thinking about…” “You’re starting to wonder about…” “You’ve begun to be curious about…” are examples of reflection starters that notice the water is moving even if it’s running fast just yet ☺

A key way to support autonomy and activation is to reflect or affirm by connecting the client’s efforts to outcomes they are already beginning to notice, even if they client isn’t all the way to their goal just yet.… read more

When the practitioner has an agenda that’s different from their client, the practitioner can be tempted to impose their agenda or try to “get the client around to it.” We think of this as a secondary agenda, which can cause harm or distrust.… read more

When the practitioner hears little bubblings of change talk, they can encourage the client by reflecting it and asking for more of the same kind or a different kind of change talk.… read more

While we don’t track closed and open questions as such in the MICA, we consider the kinds of questions the practitioner asks as we decide how to rate the conversation. Fact finding or history gathering kinds of questions do not usually help the client describe their point of view or perspective.… read more

It can be hard to hear the difference between affirmation (which we don’t “count” but take into account with our overall ratings) and reflections (which we count). If we too often mistake reflections and affirmations, it can influence the accuracy of our ratings.… read more