The point of MI is to get someone towards the stage where they are preparing to make changes. What's happening here in the first half of the video is that the interviewer leads the conversation entirely towards why he doesn't want to change and what reasons he has to sustain his behavior. The fact that a person's own reflections and voicing of their thoughts can boost their confidence works as a two-headed coin. If you let someone reflect on all the benefits of their own unhealthy behavior, you are letting them reinforce their own thoughts and reassure themselves. The obvious follow-up of the benefits should immediately be the negative impact on one's life, and particularly the personal risk involved (such as the wife leaving, the most glaringly obvious example of personal risk there is).

I think the counselor might have talked more than he needed to, silence is okay.

Thank you for posting! Much appreciated by this MSW student in early-internship, looking for technique on MI. From a content standpoint, you may consider snipping the first minute. Great work - thanks :)

amazing video! thanks for posting it!

this man doesn't want to quit and the decision has Got to come from him.

I only realised towards the end of the video that this was MI for a resistant client! I thought the therapist was talking way too much at first but now it makes the MI techniques used by the therapist look a lot more effective considering he was playing the role of a resistant client :)

Great video! Very helpful

Can we see an MI video with a gibbon as the client please? Thanks

This client had no sustain talk

Good training video on MI. I would possibly take a little more of a client centered approach and as the therapist let the client lead the session more and do more talking. The paraphrasing and encouragement were good early in the session.

The interviewer is putting his own words into the interviewie. That's not MI. The interviewie is the one who should be doing 70% of the talking and interviewer should talk 30%

How can I get get in contact with the owner of this video about using it for a training?

Around 7 minutes and 47 seconds into the video - "are you gonna tell my wife?" No, because of confidentiality. - And then the world gets to see the entire session online. If this man is not an actor this is a huge HIPAA violation.

i know this is a training video and they were joking prior to filming it, but i really don't see the empathy coming across in this video. I think the therapist comes off as immature in his tone of voice, e.g., at

I understand this is role playing, but I did not hear, clear paraphrasing, or summarizing....reflective listening. I heard the the interviewer/ counselor jump to assumptions and opinions a few time ....where client was not saying that,..and even the client corrected him.

I just sent you an e-mail. Thank you!

Talk only about the person in room. You talk about his wife, kids, dad, and doctor. They don't matter. You didn't watch for key the key words. I did like that you built a roper with the client and you were on his side.

What the wife doesn't realize (and what most wives don't realize) is that when he stops drinking, will he still be interested in her as a wife?

As an Addictions Specialist myself, I have some issue with the negligence being exhibited by the therapist... This is a deadly disease and "pussy footing" around the issues will just perpetuate and keep this patient sick. MI is not for addiction treatment... Gestalt therapy & REBT is a much better avenue to treat addiction.

Thanks for the feedback.