The Ethical Practice of MI in Healthcare Settings

In this chapter we examine the ethical case for using Motivational Interviewing (MI) in healthcare settings. First, we discuss ethical reasons that favor using MI in healthcare settings. Second, we consider two ethical challenges with respect to using MI in medical practice: the appropriate use challenge and the proficiency challenge. These challenges do not represent a decisive ethical objection to MI use in Medicine, but ought to shape and inform the decision to use MI (and its ongoing practice) in healthcare settings. Our chapter also includes a medical trainee’s insights on the value of learning MI and the ethical practice of MI.