a boat on a lake at the sunsetOARS

OARS moves the client forward, by eliciting change talk or self-motivational statements. Change talk involves statements or affective communications that indicate the client may be considering the possibility of change.
Miller and Rollnick, (2002), organize change talk into four categories:

  • problem recognition
  • concern about the problem
  • commitment to change and
  • belief that change is possible.

Any statement oriented toward the present or future, either in the cognitive or emotional realm, may represent a self-motivational statement.
Examples:

  • "I think that using, may be causing problems." (present-cognitive);
  • "I'm kind of worried that things may be getting out of hand." (present-emotional);
  • "I'm definitely going to do something about that." (future-cognitive);
  • "You know, I'm starting to feel like this just might work out."