Client speech in favor of change within motivational interviewing sessions has been linked to treatment outcomes, but a causal chain has not yet been demonstrated. Using a sequential behavioral coding system for client speech, the authors found that, at both the session and utterance levels, specific therapist behaviors predict client change talk.…

Many researchers and clinicians believe that the therapeutic relationship is essential in bringing about clinical change. Empirical research to support this contention is scarce in part due to the difficulty of specifying and measuring theoretically derived mechanisms of change and the important dimensions of the client-therapist relationship.…