The Ethics of Motivational Interviewing

Research objectives

(1) identify the ethical issues raised by MI;
(2) examine (i) the extent to which MI can be said to constitute manipulation, and (ii) whether and why the influence exerted in MI may be morally problematic;
(3) examine how we should approach ethically contentious uses of MI, including (a) MI use for ends that may be morally impermissible, (b) MI use whose aim is to benefit parties other than the client, and (c) in decisions where we may have concerns about the legitimacy of influencing others, such as in deeply personal decisions (abortion, organ donation);
(4) consider any other pressing ethical issues relating to MI identified in the course of the research project;
(5) develop a framework for the ethical practice of MI (a) in health care and helping, and (b) beyond health care/helping contexts.

Outputs

1. Monograph ‘The Ethics of Motivational Interviewing’. This will be a short (30-40,000 words) accessible monograph, aimed both at philosophers and (primarily) clinicians. The format will be modelled on short accessible introductions to topics in philosophy, such as those in the Cambridge Elements series published by CUP, and 'The Ethics of....’ series published by Routledge;

2. Articles. Three peer-reviewed articles, on (i) on ethical critiques of MI (based on a symposium on theoretical and ethical critiques of MI that I participated in at the International Conference on Motivational Interviewing in 2022 (target journal: Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy); (ii) the manipulation concern in respect of MI (target journal: Philosophical Studies), and (iiI) consent to psychological interventions such as MI (target journal: Journal of Applied Philosophy);

3. Conference presentations and workshops where I can disseminate my research findings and get input and feedback from MI researchers, trainers, and practitioners, and from philosophers, on work-in-progress, at the annual Forum and/or Virtual Forum of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, at the International Conference on Motivational Interviewing, and at the annual conference of the Society for Applied Philosophy;

4. Smaller online work-in-progress workshops. In addition to presentations and workshops at MI and philosophy conferences, I will organise one or two smaller online workshops where participants (a mixture of invited speakers and people who sign up themselves) discuss themes relating to MI ethics, including manipulation, inappropriate use, and so on. The format will be a mixture of short lectures by invited speakers, discussion of pre-circulated articles, and discussion of cases involving ethically contentious issues relating to MI that I will prepare in advance. The online format reduces costs, environmental impact, and will make events accessible to participants who may not be able to travel for reasons related to, eg funding, health, or caring obligations;

5. Blog posts on the Practical Ethics in the News blog;

6. Project updates/summaries of findings in professional newsletters for psychologists;

7. Book symposium. I will organise a book symposium on ‘The Ethics of Motivational Interviewing’ after the end of the project, in which philosophers and MI researchers and practitioners will provide commentaries/feedback on different parts of the book manuscript. I will then revise the manuscript on the basis of the feedback received in the book symposium, before submitting to the publisher. I will seek to secure institutional and external funding for this event, from eg Society for Applied Philosophy and OUP John Fell Fund. I have considerable experience of event organisation, including book symposia, and of attracting generous internal and external funding for events.