Motivational Interviewing: Inspiring Behavior Change-CME Paid Option-Motivational Interviewing: Inspiring Behavior Change-Video

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Don Stater (addiction and emergency medicine physician) and Rachel Duncan (clinical pharmacist with the SHARC program) introduce motivational interviewing (MI) as a patient-centered, collaborative method to build intrinsic motivation for behavior change, especially in the perioperative setting. They emphasize shifting from a paternalistic “telling” approach to a partnership that respects patient autonomy and improves engagement and satisfaction.<br /><br />Using the “egg” allegory, they explain that change is most effective when it comes from within the patient, and warn against the clinician “righting reflex” (jumping in with the “right” answer). MI focuses on resolving ambivalence and aligning health behaviors with patient values. They review the stages of change and stress tailoring conversations to a patient’s readiness.<br /><br />They outline MI’s four processes—engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning—and teach the OARS communication skills: open-ended questions, affirmations, reflective listening, and summaries. A brief smoking-cessation role-play demonstrates scaling questions and collaborative goal-setting. The presenters also discuss evidence supporting MI for perioperative goals (e.g., reducing substance use, supporting nutrition and recovery, and opioid tapering) and suggest practical implementation through team training, EHR prompts, and workflow integration.

Keywords

motivational interviewing

perioperative care

patient-centered communication

OARS skills

stages of change

righting reflex

smoking cessation counseling

opioid tapering