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Motivational Interviewing focuses on accepting and respecting people and working towards their goals.

Motivational Interviewing approaches emphasize people’s strengths, abilities, talents, and resources.

Individualized, respectful, strength focused interventions can be a great fit for neurodivergent people.

I was recently reading the fourth edition of Motivational Interviewing by William H. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, and often found myself thinking about how this approach to helping is a great fit for neurodivergent people in general—and autistic people in particular.

Miller and Rollnick define motivational interviewing, or MI, as “... a particular way of talking with people about change and growth to strengthen their own motivation and commitment."

I am especially inspired by Miller and Rollnick’s summaries of the basic tenets of MI—what they refer to as the spirit of MI. I will review many of these principles, the spirit of MI, in this post.

The Spirit of Motivational Interviewing (MI)

Miller & Rollnick write that the spirit of motivational interviewing “ ... lies in ... the helper's underlying attitude of partnership, acceptance, compassion, and empowerment.”

More specifically, the spirit, or heart, or way of being associated with MI includes (adapted from Miller and Rollnick):

Acknowledging and honoring a person’s freedom of choice and self-determination (their autonomy)

Helping a person work........

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