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Motivational Interviewing (MI) Getting The Whole Picture

I spent a year conducting alcohol use-related digital assessments and peer interviewing while completing my Master’s. Not only did we have an awesome, caring team, but the sessions themselves were also a lot of fun! Whether I was chatting with first years about alcohol education (after they had a little too much fun the previous weekend) or guiding more delicate explorations of drinking habits with graduate students who came on their own, no day was the same and I was all the happier for it.

A big reason I enjoyed my role was the modality used: Motivational Interviewing (MI). Designed to encourage change talk in a non-judgmental way, MI encourages people to take an objective look on difficult topics and really cashes in on human nature’s distaste for cognitive dissonance. We often know what the right decisions are deep down and having someone ask us for pros and cons - highlighting internal discrepancy - can provide real clarity and uncover hidden wisdom that, turns out, we had all along. Like the friend who helps you see the right path and gives it to you straight without making you feel bad, MI fosters insight by mapping out the whole picture.

Although my time at Columbia Health has ended, MI has remained extremely useful. Anytime I’m learning more about someone’s perspective, I put on my MI hat as it helps me put forth my curiosity non-judgmentally, reminds me to avoid leading questions, and most importantly, charts a broad understanding of someone’s experience by getting both sides of a picture. Anchoring many of my interactions, MI is an important professional and life skill I hope to continue practicing in generative interviews with users, usability testing, ethnographic research, and collaboration with team members across different settings.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Responding with Empathy

“I didn’t hear what he thought of me. I committed to what he was feeling, what he was needing.” - Dr. Marshall Rosenberg

A major theme of the FX show, Fargo, is the everlasting presence of wisdom, hope, and decency in the face of wickedness. Good vs. evil. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Generally, it seems obvious what needs to be done to foster understanding. Always doing it, however, isn’t as easy. In Season 2, Sheriff Hank Larsson - grizzled by his war experiences and traumatized by the violence he’s encountered - deduces that miscommunication is at the root of conflict and works on crafting a universal language.

I was reminded of the show while training as a therapist when I was introduced to values-based work and the principles of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, creator of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). In his experiences mediating conflict, Dr. Rosenberg championed the importance of understanding what someone was feeling and needing amidst hurtful words or actions. Coming from a place of deep empathy, Dr. Rosenberg took the expressions of “don’t take things personally” and “put yourself in others’ shoes” quite seriously. In the therapy space, helping a client identify their needs is critical in establishing an alliance, deciding on goals, and reducing countertransference. In everyday life, the rewards of utilizing NVC principles and consciously practicing empathy are boundless. How many times have we seen avoidable breakdowns of relationships begin with nuggets of miscommunication or misunderstanding? For me, it’s too often. Accordingly, proactively practicing empathy and finding neutral ground are tenets I hope to hang on to while relationship building, influencing change, and representing the voices of others.