MI-5 - Your Weekly Dose of Motivational Interviewing

Mikel Gellatly
Jul 19
3 min read

Get ready to dive back in with MI-5, your trusted source for Motivational Interviewing (MI) insights. Each week, we deliver five compact, thought-provoking ideas to spark your curiosity, enhance your skills, and keep you at the forefront of MI practice. Whether you’re an experienced practitioner, a trainer, or simply MI-curious, this newsletter is here to keep your practice fresh and informed.

After a couple of weeks on leave, and a conscious decision to step back from all things ‘work’ (including MI-5), it’s good to be back sharing helpful, interesting things from the world of MI.

In this edition, we highlight one of the best MI podcasts, share recent writing on ambivalence, explore new research on MI and job crafting, recommend a thoughtful read on change, and finish with one of my favourite MI-ish books on empathic listening.

1. Podcast Recommendation

It’s been remiss of me not to mention sooner: Talking to Change – A Motivational Interviewing Podcast, hosted by Glenn Hinds and Sebastian Kaplan, as essential listening for anyone interested in MI. Glenn and Sebastian recently welcomed back Dr. Allan Zuckoff to discuss ambivalence in MI. Allan brings three decades of experience across research, training, and practice. A fantastic conversation unpacking ambivalence, values, discord, and how we don’t need certainty to move forward. Just enough clarity to commit.

▶️ Start here: Ep 85 – Ambivalence and MI

And there are another 84 great episodes available wherever you get your podcasts.

2. Allan Zuckoff on Ambivalence

If you’re interested in digging deeper into ambivalence, Allan Zuckoff’s recent articles are well worth your time. Here’s a quick guide:

The Face Ambivalence Shows. Explores how our ability to tolerate ambivalence depends on psychological safety, mindfulness, and how we think about contradiction.
What Good Is Ambivalence? Highlights the surprising benefits of ambivalence for judgement, decision-making, health, and well-being.
Why Are We Ambivalent? Looks at how freedom, uncertainty, and our limits in predicting the future make ambivalence an unavoidable part of being human.
What Does It Mean to Resolve Ambivalence? Challenges the idea that we need to eliminate all doubts before committing to change - we rarely reach 100% certainty.
The Many Faces of Ambivalence. Shows how MI helps people move through ambivalence, avoiding the traps that keep us stuck and moving towards meaningful change.

🔗 Read them all here

3. New Research: MI & Job Crafting

Great to see this research from fellow MINT member, Dr. Florian Klonek, published. Job crafting - aligning roles to fit our skills and values - often misses the social reality of workplaces. This paper makes the case for using MI to support job crafting conversations between managers and staff, opening doors for more thoughtful and sustainable change.

🔗 Read the article

4. Helen Mentha’s Blog

Helen Mentha consistently shares digestible and practical insights that are jam packed with years of practice wisdom. Her recent post, The Last Sweep of the Hotel Room, is a lovely metaphor for checking in on readiness before moving to action. Worth a read if you haven’t already.

🔗 helenmentha.com

5. Recommended Reading

One of my most recommended MI-ish books: Listening Well: The Art of Empathic Understanding by Bill Miller. Short, accessible, and full of guidance and clarity for those wanting to deepen their listening skills.

🔗 Buy on Amazon