History and Happenstance: How Motivational Interviewing Got Its Start

Examining the intellectual roots of motivational interviewing, as well as the sometimes surprising events that led to its development, can be useful as a context for framing questions about the importance and rationale of the various elements of this clinical method. The origin of clinical components in motivational interviewing, such as empathy and the emphasis on client language, is explored as well as personal collaborations that led to the growth of this approach. Exploration of this developmental path may prove especially important as hypotheses about causal mechanisms of motivational interviewing are developed.