Why MI in Schools?

Motivational Interviewing (MI) helps students resolve ambivalence, build ownership of goals and increase readiness to act. In school settings MI supports academic motivation, attendance, behaviour change and wellbeing.

10 Effective Concepts (with practical examples)

1. 1. Engage with Empathy
   Start by building rapport — reflect feelings and accept the student’s perspective. Example: “Sounds like tests make you feel overwhelmed — that must be hard.”
2. 2. Use Open-Ended Questions
   Encourage narrative and exploration rather than yes/no answers. Example: “What do you notice about how you study when you feel stressed?”
3. 3. Reflective Listening
   Mirror content and feeling to validate and deepen the student’s thought process. Reflections can be simple, amplified, or double-sided.
4. 4. Elicit Change Talk
   Listen for and reinforce statements about desire, ability, reasons or need to change (DARN). Ask questions that draw out change language.
5. 5. Develop Discrepancy
   Help students see the gap between current behaviour and personal goals/values. Keep it collaborative, not confrontational.
6. 6. Roll with Resistance
   When students resist, avoid arguing. Reflect resistance and invite new perspectives — resistance reduces when felt understood.
7. 7. Strengthen Self-Efficacy
   Highlight past successes and small wins to boost confidence. Use scaling questions (0–10) to assess confidence and plan steps.
8. 8. Collaborative Goal-Setting
   Co-create small, specific, achievable goals (micro-goals). Example: “Let’s try 25 minutes of focused study two days this week — how doable is that?”
9. 9. Use Scaling and Tracking
   Use scales for motivation/confidence and simple trackers for behaviour — this provides feedback, momentum and reinforces change.
10. 10. Plan and Follow-up
    End with a clear, agreed plan and schedule a brief follow-up. Accountability with empathy sustains progress.

Practical Session Flow (MI-friendly)

• 1 — Open: Warm welcome, rapport, permission to talk.
• 2 — Explore: Open questions + reflections to uncover values and ambivalence.
• 3 — Evoke: Draw out change talk and aspirations.
• 4 — Plan: Small achievable goals, confidence scaling, and coping strategies.
• 5 — Review: Document commitments and set brief follow-up.

Classroom & Teacher-Friendly MI Tips

• Teachers can use brief MI micro-skills: ask an open question, one reflection, one affirmation.
• Replace “You must” with curiosity: “What might help you complete this task?”
• Use praise for effort and strategy (process), not only outcome.

Measuring Impact

Track attendance, assignment completion, confidence ratings and behavioral incidents before and after MI interventions. Small quantitative checks + qualitative notes give a clear picture of progress.

Case Snapshot

Problem: A class 10 student avoided revision and procrastinated due to fear of failure.
MI Approach: Counselor used empathy, explored values (goal to qualify for college), elicited change talk, and set micro-goals (30-min blocks with 10-min breaks).
Outcome: Improved study routine, increased confidence scoring 6→8 on confidence scale, and better test preparation.

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FAQ

Get MI Training & Support

Emocare provides workshops and hands-on training for school counselors and teachers. To arrange a school program or counselor training, contact us below.