Continuing our MI series, let's talk about OARS!
OARS is another Motivational Interviewing acronym that can help you organize your clinical tools.
**Test yourself: Can you remember what OARS stands for?**
OARS refers to four main conversational skills that can facilitate a clinician's efforts to help a client make the change they desire. It stands for...
Open-ended questions - These are questions that cannot be answered with a one-word, binary response (like yes or no). They encourage elaboration.
Affirmations - These state a client's strengths and should be the therapist's authentic observations.
Reflections - Reflective listening immediately restates the client's verbal or nonverbal communications to affirm that the therapist has heard them and is present with the client in the change process.
Summaries - Summaries concisely present the client with what they have disclosed or demonstrated over the course of their work with the therapist so far.
Triple bonus points: Which therapeutic modality (besides MI) most closely employs these same skills? Answer in the comments below!