Motiverande Samtal som Styrningsmetod - En kvalitativ analys av socialsekreterares upplevelser av chefers användande av motiverande samtal som styrningsmetod

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counselling approach developed in part by clinicalpsychologists William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick. It is a directive, client-centredcounselling style for eliciting behaviour change by helping clients to explore andresolve ambivalence. The method has grown in popularity during the last years and has spreadoutside the therapy room and into new fields where it is being applied such as healthcare, socialservice and the police. The usage of MI in therapeutic and healthcare settings is well researchedbut MI has recently emerged in a new field where the research is scarce: leadership. In thisstudy we are exploring the experiences of Swedish social workers that are trained in MI whichhas a manager that is also trained in the method and applies MI in leadership. Our results showthat the social workers are generally positive to their managers using the method; MI is seen asa factor that influences the manager to listen and be more empathetic. Our study also showsthat MI has become a general tool for interactions; the social workers are using the methodoutside client meetings and in interactions with colleagues and managers to facilitate a goodrelationship. However, there are also concerns among some of the respondents that MI couldbe used by their manager to manipulate and create behaviour changes that only benefits theorganisation. This explorative study shows that MI has the potential to impact management andleadership approaches and warrants further investigation to develop this growing field ofinterest