Psychotherapy Conversational Skills #1: Motivational Interviewing
What do you do when someone shares their challenges with you? Do you offer solutions? Or do you support their own innate problem solving?
Let's practice together how we can support our fellow humans. In this peer learning group we'll be introduced to a psychotherapeutic modality, watch sample session videos, and do deliberate practice together.
Modality: Motivational interviewing
Motivational interviewing draws out the receiver's own motivation rather than pushing them toward change.
It's a client-centered, collaborative modality with considerable clinical backing for substance use reduction, medication adherence, diet and exercise changes, and other forms of behavior change.
Schedule
7:00pm: doors open.
7:10pm: intro slides by Justin summarizing his understanding of the modality from having read a single book about Motivational Interviewing. i.e., He's not an expert.
7:20pm: modality introduction video by William Miller and Theresa M. (From PsycWire Motivational Interviewing for Substance Addiction course)
7:30pm: sample sessions videos demonstrating key techniques. (Available publicly on YouTube)
7:45pm: practicing two/four key techniques around reflection and evoking change talk. Exercises are from the "Deliberate Practice in Motivational Interviewing" book (2022) by Jennifer M, Denise E, Alexandre V, and Tony R. Each skill will have dyads roleplaying clients from prompts. We are not sharing our actual challenges, but honing our conversational skills.
8:45pmish: debrief and closing.
Disclaimer
This is a peer learning group, not a clinical training under the supervision of a licensed mental health care professional. We're practicing conversational skills from published materials for educational purposes. Not meant as training, just peer-to-peer knowledge sharing based on materials we don't have explicit permission to use or share. None of the listed individuals above are associated with this event.