Recognizing and Reinforcing Change Talk

• “I want to change because…”.
• “I could stay away from…”.
• “I’ve got to learn from the mistakes that I’ve made.”
• “I would probably stay out of prison if I…”.
• “I need to stop…”.
• “I can’t keep going on like this.”

-The best responses to change talk are questions that ask for elaboration, affirming the change talk, reflecting the change talk, and summarizing the change talk.