Motivational Conversations

Motivational Conversations offers an introduction into Motivational Interviewing (MI), an Evidenced-Based Practice designed to enhance individuals’ internal motivation to make changes in their lives. The training is ideal for professionals seeking to foster sustainable change in their clients or within their teams by focusing on internal motivation rather than external pressures.

Throughout this course, participants will explore the philosophy behind MI and how it creates an atmosphere conducive to change, as opposed to traditional, confrontation-based approaches. You will learn to accept ambivalence as a natural part of the change process and will be equipped with strategies to assess and meet individuals at their current stage of readiness using the transtheoretical model of behavior change.

The training emphasizes practice, allowing you to refine the key MI micro skills— reflections, open-ended questions, summaries, affirmations, and information sharing— while receiving feedback to strengthen your competencies. You will also learn how to identify and reinforce change talk, which is the strongest predictor of successful behavior change, and how to effectively manage resistance.

Motivational Conversations is available through attending a pre-scheduled training session or scheduling an onsite session, allowing your organization to integrate this knowledge into your training programs. For more information or to explore your options please contact the Service Alternatives Training Institute.

By completing this workshop, participants will:

• Gain appreciation for the fact that the only way to facilitate sustainable change

is by strengthening the person’s own, internal motivation for commitment and

change

• Recognize how the philosophy and spirit of Motivational Interviewing (MI)

create the atmosphere conducive to change

• Juxtapose MI philosophy with the traditional, confrontation-based, ineffective

approaches to facilitating behavior change

• Accept ambivalence as an expected component of behavior change

• Learn how to assess a person’s readiness to change using the transtheoretical

model of behavior change, and how to meet them where they are by using

matching and effective motivating approaches for each of the stages of the

model

• Apply the transtheoretical model of behavior change to assess their own level

of readiness and that of their co-participant

• Have the opportunity to review and practice each of the micro skills of MI:

reflections, open-ended questions, summaries, affirmations, and information

sharing

• Learn how to identify and reinforce change talk, the strongest predictor of the

person initiating behavior changes

• Learn how to view resistance as a function of the environment and handle it

effectively

This training is designed for therapists, counselors, direct support professionals, and organizational leaders

7 hours