Are motivational interviewing and MI the same thing?

Yes. MI is the usual abbreviation for Motivational Interviewing. Korean sources translate the name in a couple of ways, but they all refer to the same approach.

What are the principles of motivational interviewing found in textbooks?

Older textbooks describe principles such as expressing empathy, developing discrepancy (noticing the gap between where you are and where you want to be), avoiding argument, rolling with resistance, and supporting self-efficacy. Miller and Rollnick's most recent edition (2013) centers on the four elements of spirit and the four processes.

Is it a technique for persuading someone to change?

No. MI doesn't persuade or push. It holds that the person has the right to decide whether to change, and helps them reach their own decision by drawing out reasons that are already within them. Pushing or arguing tends to make people pull back.

Where is motivational interviewing used?

It began with drinking problems and is now used in many situations where people feel ambivalent about change, such as smoking and drug use, health behaviors like diet and exercise, and deciding whether to stay in treatment. The same way of talking can be applied to everyday changes like procrastination and habits.

What is motivational interviewing (MI)? Spirit, four processes, OARS

CareOps editorial team · October 13, 2026 · 7 min read

Mental wellness information and service guidance published by CareOps.

Translated from our Korean guide. Korean public services, insurance, and helpline numbers refer to South Korea. For urgent help elsewhere, contact local emergency services or a crisis line in your country.

You know you should cut back, and yet tonight you're holding your phone again. You keep meaning to start exercising, and a month has gone by. It's less about weak willpower and more that a part of you wants to change while another part wants things to stay the same. Motivational interviewing is a way of talking that works with both.

At a glance

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative way of talking that helps someone who is unsure about change find their own reasons and strengthen their motivation and commitment.
Grounded in a spirit of partnership, acceptance, compassion, and evocation, it moves among four processes, engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning, using open questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries (OARS).
A meta-analysis of 119 studies found small but durable effects on behavior change such as drinking, smoking, and exercise.

What is motivational interviewing?

Motivational interviewing is often shortened to MI. Psychologist William Miller first described it in a 1983 article on problem drinking, and developed it further together with Stephen Rollnick.

Miller and Rollnick define MI as a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It strengthens a person's motivation for and commitment to change by drawing out and exploring their own reasons, within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion. It sits between "following" (just listening) and "directing" (giving information and advice), closer to guiding.

The starting point is ambivalence. Wanting to cut back and still wanting to keep going at the same time isn't strange; it's a natural state anyone goes through when facing change. So MI doesn't persuade or push. It brings both sides out and looks at them together.

What is the spirit of motivational interviewing?

Spirit	What it means
Partnership	The practitioner is an expert in helping change; the person is the expert on their life
Evocation	The reasons and wisdom for change are already within the person; MI draws them out
Acceptance	No judgment; seeking to understand, noting strengths, respecting the right to choose
Compassion	Putting the person's welfare and wellbeing first

What are the four processes of motivational interviewing?

The flow of the conversation is described in four processes. They aren't stairs you climb once; you move back and forth as needed.

Process	What happens	What you might hear
Engaging	Build a working relationship by listening and reflecting accurately	What's been weighing on you most lately?
Focusing	Agree on what to look at together	Shall we start with your bedtime today?
Evoking	Draw out the person's own reasons why change matters	What would be different if you cut back?
Planning	Firm up commitment and plan from the person's own ideas	What could be a first step?

What are the core OARS skills?

OARS stands for the four basic skills: Open questions, Affirmation, Reflections, and Summarizing.

Skill	What it means	Example
Open questions (O)	Questions that can't be answered yes or no	When do you feel like exercising?
Affirmation (A)	Name strengths, efforts, and successes to build confidence	Even when busy, you walked twice a week.
Reflections (R)	Say back what you heard or its deeper meaning (the core of empathy)	You worry about your health, but losing downtime bothers you more.
Summarizing (S)	Pull together what was said and check it together	Three reasons for cutting back have come up.

What are change talk and sustain talk?

MI listens for what a person says in favor of change (change talk) and in favor of staying the same (sustain talk), and when it fits, helps the conversation move toward change talk. Change talk is often grouped into four kinds, abbreviated DARN.

Desire: "I'd really like to cut back now."
Ability: "I think I could manage a 30-minute walk a day."
Reasons: "I need more energy to play with my kid on weekends."
Need: "I feel like I can't keep going like this."

Does motivational interviewing work?

In a meta-analysis of 119 studies (Lundahl et al., 2010), MI showed small but statistically significant and durable effects compared with weak comparison groups, across substance use, health behaviors such as diet and exercise, gambling, and engagement in treatment. Compared with other specific treatments, there was no clear difference.

A meta-analysis of 72 randomized controlled trials (Rubak et al., 2005) found a clinically relevant effect in about three out of four studies, and 64% of studies using brief encounters of around 15 minutes still showed an effect. Meeting more than once made the effect more reliable.

Can I try it on my own?

Just asking yourself MI-style questions can help sort out your mind. If there's something you're unsure whether to change, try writing this down.

Name the topic: write the thing you're unsure about changing in one line, for example, looking at your phone before bed.
Write both sides: write what's good about keeping things as they are and your reasons for wanting change. Don't write only one side.
Rate the importance: rate how important this change is to you from 0 to 10.
Find why it's that number: write why it's that number and not 0. Your own reasons for change are in there.
A small first step: if you decide to go ahead, pick the smallest action you could try this week. If you're not ready, it's fine not to decide yet.

If procrastination is what you're working on, reasons and methods are covered in Procrastination isn't laziness.

When to get support from a professional

For problems that are hard to control on your own, such as alcohol, drugs, or gambling, reach out directly to a psychiatrist, a counseling center, or an addiction service. Diagnosis and medication are decided in clinical care, and you can keep up practices like this while you are in treatment or counseling.

Can you do motivational interviewing with an app?

CareOps Maeumi is an AI counseling app. Its conversations draw on well-researched approaches including motivational interviewing, CBT, ACT, and behavioral activation, and when you're torn about a change, Maeumi works through it with you inside the conversation using a Thinking it through practice that sorts out your reasons for change and how important it is to you. What it looks like in use is covered in Using Maeumi's motivational interviewing practice cards.

Frequently asked questions

Are motivational interviewing and MI the same thing?: Yes. MI is the usual abbreviation for Motivational Interviewing. Korean sources translate the name in a couple of ways, but they all refer to the same approach.
What are the principles of motivational interviewing found in textbooks?: Older textbooks describe principles such as expressing empathy, developing discrepancy (noticing the gap between where you are and where you want to be), avoiding argument, rolling with resistance, and supporting self-efficacy. Miller and Rollnick's most recent edition (2013) centers on the four elements of spirit and the four processes.
Is it a technique for persuading someone to change?: No. MI doesn't persuade or push. It holds that the person has the right to decide whether to change, and helps them reach their own decision by drawing out reasons that are already within them. Pushing or arguing tends to make people pull back.
Where is motivational interviewing used?: It began with drinking problems and is now used in many situations where people feel ambivalent about change, such as smoking and drug use, health behaviors like diet and exercise, and deciding whether to stay in treatment. The same way of talking can be applied to everyday changes like procrastination and habits.

Sources

This article shares general mental wellness information. For urgent help, contact local emergency services or a crisis line in your country. In South Korea, the suicide prevention helpline is 109 (24 hours), and the mental health crisis line is 1577-0199.