Exploring Ambivalence : Within Clinician-Parent Collaboration

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to investigate the impact of motivational interviewing strategies on parent-clinician collaboration during reminiscing interventions. Motivational interviewing is a counseling framework that clinicians use to encourage client-led change. It is typical for families to navigate feelings of ambivalence in relation to how to support change within a child’s development. With our study, we examine how this ambivalence manifests during clinician-parent conversation. We use inductive methods of analysis to study five clinician-parent collaborative conversations. Through looking at this topic, we explore the impact motivational interviewing strategies have on collaboration and in the managing of ambivalence. Results will bring new knowledge about motivational interviewing strategies and how effective they are with families.