Video summary

Reflections in Motivational Interviewing

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and lessons

  • Reflections are essential skills in Motivational Interviewing (MI).
  • The purpose of reflections is to reflect back to the person what you heard and what you understood.
  • MI reflections are divided into two categories:
    • Simple reflections (surface-level repetition)
    • Complex reflections (deeper meaning, emphasis, and interpretation)

Types of reflections (with examples)

1) Simple reflections

  • What they are: A direct repetition of what the other person said.
  • Example:
    • Person says: “I want to get a new more flexible job.”
    • Simple reflection: “You want to get a new and more flexible job.”

2) Complex reflections

  • What they are: Go beyond repetition—deeper, adding meaning and emphasis.
  • How they can work:
    • Reflect feelings/emotions
    • Reflect things not explicitly stated, but inferred from what the speaker communicated
    • Rephrase/paraphrase the meaning and “read between the lines”
  • Example:
    • Person’s underlying meaning: flexibility matters a lot
    • Complex reflection: “Flexibility is very important to you, and you want to find an employer that offers you that.”

Why reflections are powerful (vs. questions)

  • The video contrasts reflections with asking questions:
    • When we ask questions: we tend to follow our own agenda and gather information for our purposes.
    • When we reflect: we follow the client’s agenda.
  • Effect on the client:
    • They feel understood, heard, and cared about.
    • This increases the likelihood that they open up and share more, supporting more change-related communication (change talk).

Methodology / approach presented (instructional structure)

  • Use reflections to mirror the client’s message:
    • Start with what the person said (simple reflection).
    • If appropriate, go deeper by adding meaning/emphasis (complex reflection), such as:
      • reflecting emotions
      • inferring meaning not explicitly stated
      • paraphrasing with “between-the-lines” understanding
  • Goal: reflections should open up conversation and elicit more change talk.
  • Follow-up plan mentioned:
    • The speaker says they will explain how to use reflections to elicit more change talk in a later video.

Speakers / sources featured

  • Speaker: Unspecified individual (appears to be the video’s narrator/host; no name provided in the subtitles).
  • Sources/citations mentioned: “A lot of research in MI” (no specific studies or authors named).

Original video