ABSTRACT
Reflective listening can play a prominent role in motivational interviewing. This technique consists of seeking to understand the patient’s motivations and confidence level to determine where his/her ambivalence lies and what he/she needs to improve his/her confidence level, and then reflecting these ideas back to the patient for him/her to confirm the clinician’s correct understanding of his/her perspective on the issues. This helps the patient work through his/her ambivalence and identify barriers he/she perceives to be decreasing his/her confidence. Through motivational interviewing techniques, patient–provider sessions can become action-oriented, and a collaborative, problem-solving focus develops that improves self-efficacy and subtly trains patients to understand that you are expecting their participation. Chapter 8 presents more detail about motivational interviewing and scenarios that highlight how it works in real situations at the point of care. This includes examples of open-ended questions and narrative that can be employed.
