How do I develop discrepancy in Motivational Interviewing?
History of Developing Discrepancy
It was born from Festinger’s (1957) Dissonance Theory. You have cognitive dissonance when you hold two or more conflicting beliefs or behaviours
What is Developing Discrepancy?
Building awareness and creating a gap in the difference between one’s current behaviour and a desired different outcome or behaviour.
When is Developing Discrepancy useful?
Developing discrepancy is useful when a desired change is
– wanted by the person, but no action is taken
– wanted but not important
– not even on the person’s radar
– the person has cognititve dissonance
What are some examples of Cognitive Dissonance?
– Being a smoker, and believing smoking is bad for you.
– Thinking stealing is wrong and taking things that aren’t theirs.
How do I Develop Discrepancy in Movitational Interviewing?
Use Scaling Questions
– Confidence
– Importance
Talk about decisional balance
– What is good/enjoyed about the behaviour
– What is bad/not enjoyable about the behaviour
Refer to values
– Keep the person’s values at the forefront, what to they believe
What can I say to Develop Discrepancy?
Ask people the following questions which focus on how these conflicting views fit together
– “How does that fit” / “How do those two things go together” e.g.
– Your goal is for the person to say something like “Well they don’t really”
– You can then reflect
Here’s an example conversation to Develop Discrepancy
“You’ve said you’re eating all the calories and you need to lose weight for your wedding, how do those two things go together?”
“Well….. I suppose they don’t”
“And things might stay the same and then you get to your wedding day…”
“They can’t, I need to do it!!“
“You’re committed to seeing this through, it’s something you’ve got to do. So what happens now?”
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