YOUR WORK. YOUR PRACTICE.
Make the patient's questions and priorities part of conversations about health choices, care information and follow-through.
A brief visit may involve a health goal, a confusing referral or a question the patient has not yet asked. Practice identifying what would be useful, sharing what is known and clarifying who can answer what remains uncertain.
When a health change is the focus, draw out the patient's reasons and ideas. When the purpose is understanding care or navigating support, practice a two-way exchange that makes information usable and leaves room for questions.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented way of talking that helps people explore and strengthen their own motivation for change. Careful listening, shared focus and respect for choice guide the conversation. These skills also help when the immediate task is to understand a concern, explain information or agree what happens next.
BECOMING WITHIN YOUR WORK
Your role may be coaching, care navigation or another part of a healthcare team. Practice making that role understandable, hearing the person’s priorities and knowing when a question needs another professional’s contribution. Your own capacity and support matter in this work, too.
A question to carry into practice
What can I usefully offer in my role, and whose expertise could help with what remains?
National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) · Credentialing organization
For health-coaching roles, explore the contribution of a coach and how it relates to the wider healthcare team.
Explore the resources that fit your role, alongside your organization’s guidance and local credentialing requirements. These independent resources are offered for learning; their inclusion does not imply affiliation or endorsement.
CONVERSATIONS YOU CAN PRACTICE
Help the person clarify what they want to ask at a care visit.
Listen for what matters to the person about smoking and their own reasons to consider a change.
Discuss the information available and identify who can answer the remaining questions.
Understand how activity fits the person's day and what they would like to try.
The daily conversation rotates within your field. Additional conversation choices depend on your account's access.
FROM PRACTICE TO YOUR NEXT CONVERSATION
Have a short back-and-forth with a fictional partner. Get specific feedback on your responses, choose something to try next, and return to your saved conversations as you develop.
Reflect on how time pressure shapes your response. Choose one way to hear the patient's priority while attending to the purpose of the visit.
Build my practice home →WHY BECOMING MI
Becoming MI connects daily practice with the person and professional you want to become. Try a response, consider feedback, and carry something useful into your next conversation.
Your values, responsibilities and well-being meet in your work. We make room for that whole experience, including the resources and support you need.
Explore AMIGA’s approach to becoming →