How can you use MI to partner with peers?

1 What is MI?

MI is based on four core principles: expressing empathy, developing discrepancy, rolling with resistance, and supporting self-efficacy. These principles guide you to use specific skills, such as open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries, to elicit and reinforce your peer's own motivation and reasons for change. MI is not about telling, persuading, or confronting your peer, but rather about listening, understanding, and exploring their perspective.

2 Why use MI with peers?

MI can help you build rapport, trust, and respect with your peers, as well as foster a positive and supportive work environment. Enhancing communication and interpersonal skills, understanding peer goals, values, and challenges, helping peers overcome barriers and find solutions, empowering them to take action and make progress, avoiding conflicts and arguments, and strengthening their confidence and self-esteem are all ways in which MI can be used with peers.

3 How to use MI with peers?

To use MI with peers, you need to adopt a collaborative and respectful attitude, and follow the spirit of MI, which is partnership, acceptance, compassion, and evocation. As a partner and facilitator, you must accept your peer's autonomy, worth, and potential without imposing your views or values. Compassionately care for their well-being and best interests while avoiding criticism or blame. Lastly, draw out their own motivation and resources by asking questions and listening rather than telling or advising.

4 Examples of MI with peers

Using MI with peers in different situations can be beneficial in a few ways. For instance, when your peer is struggling with a task or project, open-ended questions and reflections can help them identify their strengths, challenges, and options. When they are resistant to change, affirmations and summaries can acknowledge their feelings, validate their concerns, and emphasize the difference between their current situation and desired outcome. Finally, when they are ready or willing to make a change, reflections and summaries can reinforce their motivation, elicit their plans, and support their actions. All of these techniques can help you support your peers in various situations.

5 Tips for using MI with peers

To use MI with peers effectively, it's important to be genuine and sincere in your communication, flexible and adaptable in your approach, curious and respectful in your questions, attentive and accurate in your reflections, positive and supportive in your affirmations, and concise and clear in your summaries. Avoid using MI as a manipulation technique or a hidden agenda, following a rigid script or predetermined outcome, interrogating or judging your peer, interrupting or assuming their meaning, flattering or exaggerating their achievements, or repeating or rephrasing everything they said. Listen carefully and reflect back what you hear and understand to recognize and appreciate their efforts and strengths. Summarize the key points and themes of your conversation.

6 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?