Motivational interviewing for weight loss

MI is a patient-centered directive counseling style that aims to facilitate patients' likelihood of making behavior change through the exploration and strengthening of personal motivations. Hallmarks of MI include a collaborative relationship between patient and practitioner, a focus on the elicitation and enhancement of change talk, a nonconfrontational style, and a concerted effort to minimize resistance. MI has been applied to a variety of health-related behaviors, and a growing body of research suggests that this approach may be useful in the context of behavioral weight management. Although results are not uniform, the majority of research suggests that MI delivered as an independent component in addition to a behavioral weight loss program can augment weight loss and likely exerts its beneficial effects through enhancement of treatment engagement and adherence to behavioral recommendations. Furthermore, preliminary research suggests that MI may be helpful in promoting weight maintenance after an initial loss has been achieved. Given that behavioral weight management is a relatively new application of MI, a variety of issues merit further investigation. Of particular interest are issues related to the type and extent of provider training necessary to ensure adequate skill development, cost-effectiveness of MI, and translational research to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of incorporating MI strategies into real-world weight loss settings.