This advanced workshop builds on the foundational Motivational Interviewing (MI) training by moving from concept to application. Designed for public sector practitioners who have completed introductory MI training, this session focuses on the places where MI practice most commonly breaks down: the pull to correct rather than explore (the righting reflex), the difficulty of hearing and cultivating change talk in real time, and the tendency to apply MI as a set of techniques rather than a relational stance.
Through intensive practice, role-play, and real-time coaching, participants will deepen their proficiency with the four processes of MI (engaging, focusing, evoking, planning), learn to differentiate between change talk, sustain talk, and discord, and develop strategies for navigating high-discord conversations without losing the collaborative relationship. The session draws on scenarios from child welfare, probation, and benefits services to ground the practice in the realities of public sector work.
Attendance at an introductory motivational interviewing training is required.
Through intensive practice, role-play, and real-time coaching, participants will deepen their proficiency with the four processes of MI (engaging, focusing, evoking, planning), learn to differentiate between change talk, sustain talk, and discord, and develop strategies for navigating high-discord conversations without losing the collaborative relationship. The session draws on scenarios from child welfare, probation, and benefits services to ground the practice in the realities of public sector work.
Attendance at an introductory motivational interviewing training is required.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Identify the righting reflex in their own practice and apply at least two strategies to manage it during client conversations.
- Demonstrate the ability to recognize and differentiate between change talk, sustain talk, and discord in live client interactions.
- Utilize evocative strategies to cultivate and strengthen change talk rather than merely responding to it.
- Apply the four processes of MI (engaging, focusing, evoking, planning) to navigate conversations where clients are stuck or ambivalent.
- Assess their own MI practice patterns using a self-rating tool and select specific areas for continued skill development.
Facilitator: Harm Reduction Therapy Center
Organized by the Health and Recovery Training Institute
