An Exploration of the Usefulness of Motivational Interviewing in Facilitating Secondary Prevention Gains in Cardiac Rehabilitation

Motivational interviewing is a client-centered, directive counseling approach aimed at promoting motivation in clients to change certain behaviors. Its effect is to reduce defensiveness and promote disclosure, engagement, and participation, thereby motivating the client to make behavioral changes. Motivational interviewing marries well with the principles of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in terms of increasing motivation among CR clients, promoting a client-centered approach and in the cost- and time-effective practices of CR. Very little research has been conducted examining the effectiveness of motivational interviewing in enhancing CR outcomes. This article discusses research that has been conducted in motivational interviewing that relates to the components of CR, provides examples of how motivational interviewing can be applied to CR, and recommends further exploration, development, and investigation of the usefulness of motivational interviewing in the field of CR.