How can you incorporate MI strategies to improve diversity and inclusion in clinical practice?

2 Express genuine curiosity

One of the core principles of MI is to express genuine curiosity about your client's perspective, experiences, and goals. This means asking open-ended questions, reflecting what you hear, and summarizing what you understand. By doing so, you show that you are interested in learning more about your client, rather than imposing your own agenda or opinions. You also create a safe space for your client to share their thoughts and feelings without fear of criticism or rejection.

3 Validate and affirm strengths

Another way to build rapport and trust with your client is to validate and affirm their strengths, values, and achievements. Validation means acknowledging and accepting your client's reality, emotions, and needs, even if they differ from your own. Affirmation means recognizing and reinforcing your client's positive qualities, efforts, and progress, even if they are small or tentative. By validating and affirming your client, you convey respect, appreciation, and encouragement, and you boost their confidence and self-efficacy.

4 Explore ambivalence and discrepancy

Sometimes, your client may have mixed feelings or conflicting beliefs about changing their behavior or situation. This is called ambivalence, and it can be a source of resistance or stagnation. Instead of confronting or persuading your client, you can use MI strategies to explore their ambivalence and help them resolve it. You can do this by eliciting their reasons for and against change, reflecting their ambivalence back to them, and highlighting the discrepancy between their current behavior and their desired outcomes.

5 Elicit change talk and commitment

The ultimate goal of MI is to elicit change talk and commitment from your client. Change talk is any statement that expresses a desire, ability, reason, or need for change. Commitment is any statement that indicates a readiness, willingness, or plan for change. You can elicit change talk and commitment by asking evocative questions, using scaling techniques, providing information or feedback, and negotiating a change plan. You can also reinforce change talk and commitment by reflecting, summarizing, and affirming them.

6 Adapt and tailor your approach

Finally, you can improve diversity and inclusion in your clinical practice by adapting and tailoring your approach to your client's specific needs, preferences, and circumstances. This means being flexible, responsive, and culturally sensitive in your communication, interventions, and goals. You can also collaborate with your client to identify and address any barriers or facilitators to change, such as social support, resources, or cultural norms. By adapting and tailoring your approach, you demonstrate that you respect your client's autonomy and agency, and you support their self-determination.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?