Tough conversations with clients can be challenging, but motivational interviewing (MI) offers a powerful approach to foster engagement and collaboration. MI is a client-centered counseling style that helps clients explore and resolve ambivalence toward change. Here’s how to use MI effectively: Ask open-ended questions: Encourage clients to share their thoughts and feelings openly, leading to deeper understanding and connection. Reflective listening: Echo back clients' words to demonstrate empathy, validate their experiences, and show you truly understand. Affirmations: Recognize clients' strengths and acknowledge their efforts to build confidence and trust.

1. Express Empathy - Show genuine care and pay detailed attention to for their perspective. Show validation . 2. Develop Discrepancy - Help patients see the gap between their current behavior and their broader goals . This motivates change by making them aware of the inconsistencies. 3. **Avoid Arguing** - Guide the conversation in a collaborative direction instead. 4. Roll with Resistance - Don't force the issue. Use it as an opportunity to explore their ambivalence. Ask open-ended questions that invite discussion and reflection. 5. Support Self-Efficacy - Encourage them by focusing on their strengths and past successes. Past success helps everyone's self-confidence

Tough conversations aren’t the enemy; it’s the critical tone that alienates. Clients, for example, Gen Z, crave authenticity and connection. They don’t resist challenge—they resist feeling judged. Motivational interviewing is less about “keeping them engaged” and more about creating space for them to engage themselves. Curiosity, not correction, fosters exploration. Ask, listen, reflect, but resist the urge to “fix.” This generation has grown up navigating relentless scrutiny, so they can spot insincerity a mile away. The real work isn’t softening the message—it’s softening the delivery, honoring their autonomy, and trusting that discomfort can grow trust when it’s grounded in respect.