Table Of Contentebook
THE GUILFORD PRESS
MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING
IN NUTRITION AND FITNESS
Applications of Motivational Interviewing
Stephen Rollnick, William R. Miller,
and Theresa B. Moyers, Series Editors
www.guilford.com/AMI
Since the publication of Miller and Rollnick’s classic Motivational Interviewing,
now in its third edition, MI has been widely adopted as a tool for facilitating
change. This highly practical series includes general MI resources as well as
books on specific clinical contexts, problems, and populations. Each volume
presents powerful MI strategies that are grounded in research and illustrated
with concrete “how-to-do-it” examples.
Motivational Interviewing in Health Care:
Helping Patients Change Behavior
Stephen Rollnick, William R. Miller, and Christopher C. Butler
Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook
David B. Rosengren
Motivational Interviewing with Adolescents and Young Adults
Sylvie Naar-King and Mariann Suarez
Motivational Interviewing in Social Work Practice
Melinda Hohman
Motivational Interviewing in the Treatment of Anxiety
Henny A. Westra
Motivational Interviewing, Third Edition: Helping People Change
William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick
Motivational Interviewing in Groups
Christopher C. Wagner and Karen S. Ingersoll, with Contributors
Motivational Interviewing in the Treatment of Psychological Problems,
Second Edition
Hal Arkowitz, William R. Miller, and Stephen Rollnick, Editors
Motivational Interviewing in Diabetes Care
Marc P. Steinberg and William R. Miller
Motivational Interviewing in Nutrition and Fitness
Dawn Clifford and Laura Curtis
MOTIVATIONAL
INTERVIEWING
in Nutrition and Fitness
DAWN CLIFFORD
LAURA CURTIS
Series Editors’ Note by Stephen Rollnick,
William R. Miller, and Theresa B. Moyers
The Guilford Press
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These materials are intended for use only by qualified professionals.
The publisher grants to individual purchasers of this book nonassignable permission
to reproduce all materials for which permission is specifically granted in a footnote.
This license is limited to you, the individual purchaser, for personal use or use with
individual clients. This license does not grant the right to reproduce these materials
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The authors have checked with sources believed to be reliable in their efforts to provide
information that is complete and generally in accord with the standards of practice
that are accepted at the time of publication. However, in view of the possibility of
human error or changes in behavioral, mental health, or medical sciences, neither the
authors, nor the editor and publisher, nor any other party who has been involved in
the preparation or publication of this work warrants that the information contained
herein is in every respect accurate or complete, and they are not responsible for any
errors or omissions or the results obtained from the use of such information. Readers
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Clifford, Dawn, author. | Curtis, Laura, author.
Title: Motivational interviewing in nutrition and fitness / Dawn Clifford,
Laura Curtis.
Description: New York : The Guilford Press, [2016] | Series: Applications of
motivational interviewing | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015042791| ISBN 9781462524181 (paperback : acid-free
paper) | ISBN 9781462524198 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Nutrition counseling. | Physical fitness. | Motivational
interviewing. | Health promotion. | Psychotherapist and patient. | BISAC:
MEDICAL / Nursing / Nutrition. | PSYCHOLOGY / Psychotherapy / Counseling.
| MEDICAL / Sports Medicine.
Classification: LCC RM218.7 .C55 2016 | DDC 615.8/54—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015042791
About the Authors
Dawn Clifford, PhD, RD, is Associate Professor and Director of the Didac-
tic Program in Dietetics in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science
at California State University, Chico. In addition, she cofounded and is
currently Director of FitU, a peer mentoring nutrition and exercise counsel-
ing program on campus. She received the Outstanding Dietetics Educator
Award from Nutrition and Dietetic Educators and Preceptors, a practice
group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dr. Clifford conducts
research and is an accomplished speaker in the areas of motivational inter-
viewing and non-diet approaches to health and wellness. She has published
several research articles in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behav-
ior and written curricula for Today’s Dietitian and Nutrition Dimensions.
She is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers
(MINT).
Laura Curtis, MS, RD, is Director of Nutritional Services at Glenn Medi-
cal Center in Willows, California, where she provides clinical nutrition
services to patients in acute care and is a nutrition therapist for the outpa-
tient clinic. In addition, she serves as a preceptor to undergraduate dietetic
students and is a part-time lecturer at California State University, Chico.
Ms. Curtis has extensive training in motivational interviewing at both the
undergraduate and graduate levels. As a nutrition therapist, she provides
counseling to patients with conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and
disordered eating, and to those considering bariatric surgery. In her coun-
seling, she pairs motivational interviewing with the non-diet principles of
intuitive eating and Health at Every Size.
v
Series Editors’ Note
H
ealth care practitioners are under strain to “make the patient change”
when it comes to eating right and exercising. Colleagues make referrals for
behavior change counseling with certain goals in mind. As the recipient of
the referral, it’s easy to feel pressured into giving advice when your client so
clearly needs to make lifestyle changes.
Motivational interviewing (MI) was developed to improve the conver-
sation about behavior change. It started in the addictions field more than
30 years ago and was gradually refined, subjected to research scrutiny,
and extended into other fields. This book provides a good example of this
extension, since many of the challenges that arise in other fields converge
on the subjects of eating and exercise: we can’t make people change, only
they can; reluctance to change is a widespread puzzle; and change itself is
often not as simple as we would like it to be.
The authors of this book highlight and illustrate these themes from the
first chapter to the last, and point to how practitioners might adjust their
style and techniques to achieve outcomes that are more satisfying for all
involved. The familiar exchanges about diet and exercise turn into some-
thing that is unique to each individual, allowing practitioners to develop
their skills as they discover the motivations that drive the client.
Some of the shifts required to use MI well are quite radical. For exam-
ple, one needs to view clients as people with strengths, not just as patients
with a list full of pathologies. Empathic listening is key for not only keeping
the conversation grounded in the individual, but also gently pointing the
conversation in the direction of change, and paying attention to the client’s
language of change.
In one sense, this book is an invitation to change for practitioners
themselves—changing the way they execute nutrition and fitness counsel-
ing. Using MI can involve far less strain and tension, in that you don’t have
vii
viii Series Editors’ Note
to come up with all the answers yourself—that’s the client’s task. On the
other hand, this invitation also involves a kind of listening and caring in
the service of change that requires patience, curiosity, and thoughtfulness.
The book shines with these qualities, and we welcome it with open arms
into the series on applications of MI.
Stephen Rollnick, phD
William R. milleR, phD
theReSa B. moyeRS, phD
