Jeanie Suvan, a colleague from the dental field showed me this quote. Thank you.
"After all, when you seek advice from someone it's certainly not because you want them to give it. You just want them to be there while you talk to yourself".
- Terry Pratchett, 1948
If this were to be emitted from a patient or client, this person would be the ideal recpient of motivational interviewing.
How do you "be there" while the person talks to themselves about change? That's what we have tried to write and talk about and do research on. Our answer is that one uses guiding questions and reflective listening. The latter in particular seems to be the key for "being there" in a way that helps poeple to continue talking and exploring the options. Reflective listening helps them to feel understood, and to come face to face with new perspectives... I'm sure we could pen many more words to describe this process...
Here's another quote, that reveals the same insight, this time from that truly imaginative contemplator, the French polymath, Blaise Pascall (see his entry in www.wikipedia.com):
"People are more likely to be persuaded by the reasons they have themselves discovered then by those that come into the minds of others"
Regards,
Steve
