50 Motivational Interviewing Questions (With Examples)

Good motivational interviewing questions do one thing: they invite the client to say the arguments for change out loud, in their own words. This is a categorised list of 50 open questions — grouped by the four processes of MI (Engaging, Focusing, Evoking, Planning) — with examples of how to use them and the common traps that turn a good question into a bad one.

One caveat before the list: a question is only half of MI. The skill isn’t asking the perfect question — it’s reflecting the answer. Fire questions one after another and even good ones become an interrogation. Use these to open a door, then follow the client through it with a reflection.

What Makes a Question “MI”

Three tests:

Open, not closed. It can’t be answered with “yes,” “no,” or a single fact. “Did you drink last night?” is closed; “What was last night like for you?” is open.
Evocative. It pulls change talk out of the client rather than pushing your reasons in. “Don’t you think you should cut down?” is a lecture wearing a question mark.
In the client’s frame. It explores their concerns, values, and goals — not the ones you’d pick for them.

Engaging Questions — Building the Relationship

These open the conversation and signal that it’s the client’s, not yours.

“What would you like to talk about today?”
“What’s been on your mind lately?”
“How are you hoping I can help?”
“Tell me a bit about how things have been going.”
“What matters most to you right now?”
“What brought you here today?”

Focusing Questions — Finding the Direction

Use these to agree an agenda together rather than imposing one.

“Of everything we’ve talked about, what feels most important to focus on?”
“If we could sort out one thing today, what would you want it to be?”
“Where would you like to start?”
“You’ve mentioned a few things — which feels most pressing?”
“Would it be OK if we spent some time on that?” (asking permission keeps it collaborative)
“What would you most like to be different about your situation?”

Evoking Questions — Drawing Out Change Talk

This is the heart of MI. These questions target the client’s own motivation. It helps to organise them by the kinds of change talk they evoke — Desire, Ability, Reasons, Need (DARN).

Desire

“What would you like to change?”
“How would you like things to be different?”
“What do you hope will be different a year from now?”
“What do you want for yourself — or your family — in all this?”

Ability

“If you decided to make this change, how might you go about it?”
“What’s worked for you before, even a little?”
“What strengths do you have that could help you here?”
“When you’ve made a hard change in the past, how did you manage it?”

Reasons

“What are the good things about the way things are now? And the less good things?”
“In what ways does this concern you?”
“What worries you about how things are going?”
“What would be the upside of making a change?”
“What might be some reasons to do this?”

Need

“How important is it to you to change this?”
“What’s at stake if things stay the same?”
“How do you feel about where things are heading?”

Scaling (ruler) questions

The importance and confidence rulers are classic MI. The trick is the follow-up: ask why they’re not lower, which evokes change talk. Asking why they’re not higher evokes the opposite.

“On a scale of 0 to 10, how important is making this change to you?”
“You said a 6 — why a 6 and not a 2?”
“How confident are you, 0 to 10, that you could do it if you decided to?”
“What would it take to move you from a 6 to a 7?”

Client: “I suppose the importance is about a 7.” Clinician: “A 7 — quite high. What makes it a 7 rather than, say, a 3?” Client: “Because I know it’s affecting my kids, and that’s not who I want to be.” Clinician: “Being the parent you want to be matters more than almost anything here.”

That’s a ruler question doing its job: the number is just a doorway to the reasons.

Looking back, looking forward, values

“What were things like before this became a problem?”
“If you made this change, what would your life look like five years from now?”
“If nothing changes, where do you see yourself heading?”
“What’s the worst that could happen if things stay the same? And the best, if they change?”
“What matters most to you in life — and how does this fit with that?”
“How does the way things are now fit with the kind of person you want to be?”

Planning Questions — Commitment and Next Steps

Only move here when you hear readiness. Start with a gentle key question, then build the plan with the client.

“So where does that leave you now?”
“What do you think you’ll do?”
“What’s the next step, if any, that makes sense to you?”
“How ready do you feel to give this a try?”
“What would be a realistic first step this week?”
“What might get in the way, and how could you handle it?”
“Who could support you with this?”
“How will you know it’s working?”
“What would help you stick with it when it gets hard?”
“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to do this?”
“What gives you confidence you can do this?”
“Is there anything else that feels important to say before we finish?”

Questions to Avoid

The fastest way to shut down change talk:

Closed questions as the default: “Have you tried quitting?” narrows; “What have you tried?” opens.
Leading questions: “Wouldn’t it be better to stop?” is your opinion with a question mark. The client will defend the status quo.
Question stacking: “What’s going on with the drinking, and have you cut down before, and did it work?” — three at once means none get a real answer.
Too many “why” questions early: “Why do you do that?” can feel interrogative. “What” and “how” feel more exploratory. Save “why” for later, when the relationship can hold it.
Asking without reflecting: a question, then another question, then another. Aim to reflect at least as often as you ask.

How to Practise Asking (and Following Up)

Reading a list of questions is the easy part. The hard part is choosing the right one live, hearing the change talk in the answer, and reflecting it instead of firing the next question. That’s a timing skill, and it only comes from reps.

The MI Practice Lab lets you practise on a realistic AI client, then shows you:

Your open-to-closed question ratio, and your reflections-to-questions ratio.
The change talk your questions evoked — and where you asked another question instead of reflecting it.
OARS-tagged playback so you can see which questions opened the client up and which shut them down.

It’s the difference between having a list of questions and actually being able to use them.

Quick-Reference

Process	Go-to question
Engaging	”What would you like to talk about today?”
Focusing	”Of everything we’ve discussed, what feels most important?”
Evoking (reasons)	“What are the good things and the less good things about how it is now?”
Evoking (rulers)	“Why a 6 and not a 2?”
Planning	”So where does that leave you? What do you think you’ll do?”

Frequently Asked Questions

What are good open-ended questions for motivational interviewing?

Good MI questions are open (can’t be answered yes/no), evocative (they draw out the client’s own reasons for change), and in the client’s frame. Examples: “What would you like to be different?”, “In what ways does this concern you?”, and the ruler question “Why are you at a 6 and not a 2?” The full categorised list above is organised by the four processes of MI.

What is the importance ruler question in MI?

You ask, “On a scale of 0 to 10, how important is this change to you?” Then — crucially — you ask why they’re not lower (“Why a 6 and not a 3?”). That follow-up evokes change talk, because the client explains their own reasons. Asking why they’re not higher does the opposite and tends to evoke sustain talk.

How many questions should I ask in an MI session?

Fewer than you’d think. MI aims for a reflections-to-questions ratio of at least 1:1 (2:1 at proficiency), and around 70% open questions. If you’re asking two or three questions for every reflection, you’re interviewing, not doing MI.

What questions should I avoid in motivational interviewing?

Closed questions used as the default, leading questions (“Wouldn’t it be better to…?”), stacked questions (several at once), and a run of questions with no reflections in between. All of them tend to produce sustain talk or shut the conversation down.

Are these questions specific to addiction, or do they work in any setting?

They work across settings — healthcare, social work, coaching, and beyond. MI is a style, not a script: the same evoking and planning questions apply whether the change is about drinking, medication, diet, or a work goal. Adapt the wording to the client and context.

Want to practise using these questions, not just reading them? The MI Practice Lab gives you a realistic AI client, tracks the change talk your questions evoke, and shows you where to reflect instead of asking again. Start a free trial — 5 minutes, no card required.