Enhancing Client Engagement: Motivational Interviewing in Financial Planning

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a communication style that helps strengthen clients' motivation for and commitment to change. Their motivation is already there, and MI is a way of helping them uncover it. MI helps explore your clients' own reasons for change in a collaborative way that puts the clients' interests first. In this presentation, you'll learn what MI is and how to use it in your financial planning practice. MI is composed of four stages, engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning, which integrate nicely into your work with clients. You'll learn more about the skills used in motivational interviewing that will make you a better listener, both in your practice and in your life. These skills are asking open-ended questions/prompts, affirmations, reflections, and summaries. Your clients are already motivated. MI helps your clients identify and strengthen that motivation.

Competency Level: Intermediate 
FPA Competency: Interpersonal Impact
CFP Board Topic: Psychology of Financial Planning
CFP Board CE Credit Hours:

• Learn what Motivational Interviewing (MI) is and how it can help your clients succeed 
• Understand the MI stages (engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning) and how they fit into your financial planning process 
• Understand the skills used in MI - Open-ended prompts, affirmations, reflections, and summaries