Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC 2.x) — Client Language

William R. Miller, Theresa B. Moyers, Denise Ernst, Paul Amrhein · 2008

The MISC client-language codes for classifying a client's utterances as change talk, sustain talk, or follow/neutral relative to a target behavior change.

Work in progress — this scale ships domain definitions while its curated agent skills are still being authored. Domains may change as it is completed.

The Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC) codes both clinician and client speech in MI sessions. This scale focuses on client language — the utterances that reveal a client's motivation relative to a target behavior change, classified as change talk, sustain talk, or follow/neutral. Tracking the balance of change vs sustain talk is central to MI process research.

Work in progress. This scale currently ships domain definitions only — the curated per-domain agent skills are still being authored and need source verification against the MISC 2.x manual. The target behavior must be specified for coding to be meaningful; domains may change as the scale is completed.

Domains (3)

Change TalkCT

Client language that favors movement toward the target behavior change (desire, ability, reasons, need, commitment, or steps taken).

—
Sustain TalkST

Client language that favors maintaining the status quo or arguing against the target behavior change.

—
Follow / NeutralFN

Client utterances that are neutral with respect to the target change — neither change nor sustain talk.

—
Miller WR, Moyers TB, Ernst D, Amrhein P. Manual for the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC), Version 2.x. University of New Mexico, Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA); 2008.

Manuals freely downloadable (UNM CASAA / motivationalinterviewing.org); category definitions reproducible with citation. Cite Miller et al.