High levels of empathy are key to the MI guiding style. Empathy is traditionally understood as the expression or demonstration of kindness, agreement, acceptance, or concern for the patient.

We define empathy a little differently in MI.

In Motivational Interviewing, empathy is simply the demonstration of a keen but neutral curiosity for the patient’s ideas and attitudes regarding all sides of the targeted behavior change. The MI practitioner refrains from using too many emotional cues.

Empathy is best demonstrated through the use of effective listening and communication skills, not necessarily through any measure of smiles, kind words, or enabling gestures. By truly listening to our patients we can provide them the highest quality attention and care that they deserve. Helping our patients achieve their goals is the best expression of empathy that we can aspire to.