Core MI Skills are Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and Summaries (OARS). Which of the following is NOT part of OARS?

Core MI Skills are Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and Summaries (OARS). Which of the following is NOT part of OARS?

• A. Open questions
• B. Affirmations
• C. Reflections
• D. Advice giving

Answer: (D)

Motivational Interviewing relies on four communication tools to engage clients and support their own reasons for change: Open questions invite the client to share their thoughts in their own words; Affirmations acknowledge the client’s strengths, efforts, and progress; Reflections demonstrate active listening by restating or interpreting what the client has said; and Summaries pull together key points from the conversation to reinforce motivation and plan next steps. Advice giving, on the other hand, is guidance or directions provided by the practitioner rather than tools used to elicit the client’s own motivations and change talk. MI emphasizes guiding the client toward their own insights rather than directing them, so giving unsolicited advice does not fit within OARS.

Motivational Interviewing relies on four communication tools to engage clients and support their own reasons for change: Open questions invite the client to share their thoughts in their own words; Affirmations acknowledge the client’s strengths, efforts, and progress; Reflections demonstrate active listening by restating or interpreting what the client has said; and Summaries pull together key points from the conversation to reinforce motivation and plan next steps. Advice giving, on the other hand, is guidance or directions provided by the practitioner rather than tools used to elicit the client’s own motivations and change talk. MI emphasizes guiding the client toward their own insights rather than directing them, so giving unsolicited advice does not fit within OARS.