Use OARS Before You Give Advice
Use OARS to keep a substance-use conversation collaborative before offering advice.
The teach OARS is not a polite warm-up. It is the operating system for a motivational conversation. Open questions widen the conversation so the client can reveal values and concerns. Affirmations name effort or capacity without flattering. Reflections show the client you are tracking both facts and meaning. Summaries gather the parts that point toward change. In addiction counseling, this matters because the client often has two true stories at once: substance use is costing them, and substance use is doing something for them. If you attack only the cost, you can accidentally force them to defend the benefit. OARS…
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