We talk in nutrition counseling sessions and the client talks, too. What is an ideal relative amount of talking for each of us? First let’s look at the various reasons you may talk.

Motivational interviewing is a carefully researched model for change conversations. One of the parameters measured is the counselor’s ratio of reflections to questions.

As counselors, we strive for accurate empathy. We listen carefully and reflect back what we hear that seems important.

Making real, lifestyle change is tough and usually involves many steps and setbacks. To make the permanent changes we recommend takes persistence on our client’s part and ours.

We all encounter clients who tell us that if they change their body (lose weight), it will change their life for the better and a focus on weight loss alone is all they wish from us.

Here we look at how the four processes of MI (Tip # 114) support a nutrition counseling session based on the HAES® paradigm.

This Tip continues to explore the Health At Every Size ® paradigm and how it fits with motivational interviewing.

The Health At Every Size (HAES ®) approach to health and weight has been around for several decades. It also has been called the non-diet movement and size acceptance.

Many of us went into the field of nutrition because we want to help people. In our training, we learned about the impact of food intake on medical issues so as to make people’s lives better.

A few weeks ago in the middle of an initial session, I realized that my attention was on the problems with how the client was eating and the way she was thinking about her body and food.