ASWB Bachelor Practice Exam 2025 - Free ASWB Practice Questions and Study Guide

Motivational Interviewing is a therapeutic approach specifically designed to enhance a client’s motivation to change. This method focuses on assessing and exploring an individual’s willingness and readiness to make changes in their behavior, particularly regarding issues like substance use, health behaviors, or lifestyle modifications. It recognizes that ambivalence is a common barrier to change, and practitioners use techniques that support clients in articulating their own motivations. The approach is collaborative and respectful, encouraging clients to express their thoughts and feelings about change, and it emphasizes the importance of the client’s autonomy in decision-making.

In contrast, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses more on identifying and changing cognitive distortions and behaviors rather than assessing readiness to change. Solution-Focused Therapy centers on finding solutions in the present and exploring the desired future rather than exploring readiness for change. Systemic Therapy examines the dynamics within relationships and family systems but does not specifically target the readiness aspect in the same way that Motivational Interviewing does.