Level Up Your Therapy Skills with Motivational Interviewing

Incorporate “MI micro moments” into your sessions to enhance therapy engagement and commitment to behavior change.

What you'll learn
Participants will describe the core tenets, principles, and underlying theory of Motivational Interviewing (MI).
Participants will explain the four core processes of MI.
Participants will demonstrate how to elicit change talk.
Participants will demonstrate how to use Confidence and Importance rulers.
Participants will explain how to engage clients in Elicit Provide Elicit information exchange.
Participants will learn how to provide MI-consistent summaries.
Participants will demonstrate how to respond to Sustain Talk and Discord throughout treatment.
Participants will illustrate how to incorporate cultural humility and responsiveness into MI.
Participants will practice how to incorporate MI micro moments into other evidence-based psychotherapies.
Requirements
Therapists and medical providers of all training levels and experiences are welcome.
Description
In this interactive workshop, participants will learn about the
theory and spirit of Motivational Interviewing
(MI), will learn to
identify change talk and sustain talk
, and will gain exposure to
each of the core MI skills
. Participants will learn
how to use MI in diverse treatment applications
and will explore
how to incorporate MI into their existing clinical practice
.
MI is an
evidence-based intervention that has been shown to strengthen engagement and behavior change
for individuals with ambivalence about changing substance use behaviors (Miller, 2000) and health behaviors (Rollnick et al., 2022).
MI has been found to enhance treatment benefit in conjunction with other evidence-based psychotherapies for obsessive-compulsive behavior, depression, eating disorders, PTSD, anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation, gambling, addictions, smoking cessation, and intimate partner violence
(Arkowitz et al., 2017).
There is often a
misconception that MI is only used for substance use or health behavior change, however MI can be applied for a wide range of psychological concerns and in combination with other evidence-based psychotherapies
. The core processes of MI are compatible with most psychotherapies and MI skills can be incorporated into other approaches through
“micro” MI moments in order to enhance motivation and commitment for treatment and homework.
Thus,
competency in MI is a key skill that clinicians can hone to strengthen their ability to engage clients, build motivation, and enhance ongoing commitment to change.
Your Instructor:
Emily Wharton, Psy.D.
is a licensed clinical psychologist who provides individual, couples, and group therapy in the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs and her private practice. Dr. Wharton was intensively trained in Motivational Interviewing through the VA’s Evidence Based Psychotherapy Training Program. She provides supervision and training for postdoctoral fellows, psychology interns, Stanford medical students, Stanford psychiatry residents, and practicum students. Dr. Wharton provides workshops independently and through her courses at the Cognitive Behavior Institute Center for Education.
Course Agenda:
Lecture and Role-play: Origins and Underlying theory of MI
· Historical context of the emergence of MI
· Contrast to previous confrontational models
· Reflection and discussion on MI principles and style
· Roleplay in pairs of eliciting vs. convincing:
[course attendees are invited to practice role-play prompts with colleagues; role-play time is in addition to course content purchased due to on-demand nature of course, however instructions are included]
Lecture: MI Spirit and Processes
· Core components of MI spirit
· Practicing the 4 MI processes
Lecture: Listening for and Evoking Change Talk
· Listening for DARNCAT: Desire, Ability, Reasons, Need, Confidence, Ability, Taking Steps
· Eliciting change talk questions
Lecture and Roleplay Practice: MI Core Skills: OARS
· Open-ended questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and Summaries directed at change talk
· Simple vs. complex reflections
· Using Confidence and Importance Rulers
Day 1 Review, Questions, Homework
Day 1 and Homework Review
Questions and reflections from previous day
· Homework review
Lecture and Practice: Working with Sustain Talk and Discord
· Noticing sustain talk, validating, strengthening alliance/rapport
· Dancing with discord as it arises
· Working with barriers
Lecture and Practice: Elicit Provide Elicit
· Importance of gaining permission for sharing information
· Chunking information and moving between eliciting/providing
· Role-play: practice providing psychoeducation using EPE model
Cultural humility within Motivational Interviewing
· Research on using MI with different populations, cultural groups
· Video: Using MI for survivors of intimate partner violence
· Importance of client-guided values/reasons defining
Integrating MI into other Evidence-Based Psychotherapies
· Common traps in engaging clients in treatment and homework
· Addressing treatment/homework barriers
· Role-play practice [if time]: integrating MI micro moments into existing psychotherapy
Reflection and Wrap-up
· Next Steps, further learning
· Resources, ongoing support
· Answering questions/case-specific needs
· Group reflection
Who this course is for:
Therapists (LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, PsyD, PhD, students) seeking to enhance motivation to engage in therapy tasks and homework. e.g. using “micro MI moments” in commitment work in ACT/DBT, exposure for anxiety/OCD/PTSD
Medical providers (MD, NP, RN, students) seeking to enhance medication adherence and behavior change e.g. eliciting motivation to stop/reduce smoking/substance use or increase health behaviors such as nutrition and exercise


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