We all care about the people we support, either personally or professionally, which can fuel our desire to see them happy.

One of the most common ways to show this is to help them find a solution to their problems. It alleviates the burden or struggle they’re experiencing and simultaneously leaves us with a sense of pride knowing we helped someone we care about.

Unfortunately, this approach can lead us to jump to problem-solving before we fully understand the situation and how it impacts the other individual.

***In MI, this is referred to as the righting reflex. To combat this instinctual response, we need to stay patient and spend time exploring the problem with the person to ensure we have the complete picture.