Which item is not part of the OARS core skills in Motivational Interviewing?

• A. Open questions
• B. Affirmations
• C. Lectures
• D. Summaries

Answer: (C)

In Motivational Interviewing, the interaction is built around a collaborative set of skills that begin with inviting the client to talk and reflect, rather than telling them what to do. These skills—Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and Summaries—are designed to engage the client, evoke intrinsic motivation, and support autonomy.

Lectures, by contrast, involve one-way instruction from the clinician and can feel directive or judgmental. This clashes with MI’s collaborative and nonconfrontational style, where the aim is to elicit the client’s own reasons for change rather than supply information or authoritative advice.

Open questions encourage exploration and ambivalence; Affirmations recognize strengths and efforts; Summaries help the client hear and integrate what has been discussed. Because lectures do not align with this interactive, client-centered approach, they are the item that does not fit with the OARS core skills.