Motivational Interviewing with Adolescents and Young Adults

This pragmatic guide spells out how to use Motivational Interviewing (MI) to have productive conversations about behavior change with adolescents and young adults in any clinical context. Filled with vivid examples, sample dialogues, and "dos and don'ts," the book shows how conducting MI from a developmentally informed standpoint can help practitioners quickly build rapport with young patients, enhance their motivation to make healthy changes, and overcome ambivalence. Experts on specific adolescent problems describe MI applications in such key areas as substance abuse, smoking, sexual risk taking, eating disorders and obesity, chronic illness management, and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. This book will be important reading for clinical psychologists, addictions treatment specialists, social workers, counselors, and psychiatrists; also of interest to pediatricians, nurses, and other health care providers who treat adolescents. It may also serve as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses.

Sylvie Naar-King, PhD, Pediatric Prevention Research Center and Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Michigan, USA, and Mariann Suarez, PhD, ABPP, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, University of South Florida College of Medicine, USA

"A beautifully written, well-organized, and immensely substantive text on collaborating with young people who are struggling with serious challenges. I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with teenagers and young adults. Readers will benefit from its unique blend of spirit and skill, lively illustrations, and universal lessons. I guarantee that this book will not disappoint!" - Andrew Malekoff, Executive Director, North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, Roslyn Heights, New York, USA "Naar-King and Suarez remind us that the more you try to persuade and direct, the more a young person tends to resist. Want more productive conversations about behavior change with the young adults you work with? Want to stop the pathologizing of adolescents and help them maximize their potential? Look to this book for all-important 'how-tos' and helpful strategies." - Michael D. Clark, Director, Center for Strength-Based Strategies, Mason, Michigan, USA