Mi Rolling With Resistance
Mi Rolling With Resistance
Mi Rolling With Resistance
What is resistance?
Resistance is what happens when we expect or push for change when the client is not
ready for that change.
Conscious or unconscious defenses against change.
Clients who exhibit resistance are less likely to change.
Persuasion
o It’s tempting to try to be helpful by persuading the client about:
The importance or urgency of the problem being addressed.
The benefits of changing a behavior.
o Persuasion is not an effective method for resolving ambivalence and will
probably backfire on you.
o It usually only increases client resistance and decreases the probability of
change.
Righting reflex
o As health care professionals, we use our corrective lens.
o We want to change client behavior and we want to make things right, so we
argue or push back with the client.
o Since we are arguing for the change side of ambivalence, this usually causes the
client to keep voicing sustain talk (the reasons not to change).
o With MI, the practitioner doesn’t try to make things right or doesn’t try to
change the client’s behavior.
o Change comes from the client’s intrinsic motivation.
o We have to acknowledge that the righting reflex is present and ask ourselves to
override it.
o We have to ask it to step aside and focus on the person in front of us.
• Develop discrepancy -
• Help the client see that some behaviors don’t mesh with ultimate goals that are
important/valuable.
• Help the client see the difference between her core values and her behavior(s).
• Define most important goals.
• Change won’t occur without discrepancy.
• Create gap between where the client is and where she wants to be.
• Allows the client to realize current behavior isn’t leading to goal and be more
open to change.
• Support self-efficacy-
• Client’s self-belief in ability to change.
• Promote belief in client’s ability to do the skill needed.
• Focus on past successes and skills and strengths client has or can easily learn.
• Promote self-esteem and build confidence.
Rolling with resistance and skillfully working to elicit the client’s own motivation to change
are more effective.
You may think you are drawing attention to the resistance when you want to minimize
it. However…
Rolling with resistance techniques reduce the likelihood that the client will continue in a
resistant stance.