Begin Your Journey

Resisting the righting reflex or the urge to solve other people’s problems. If you do have to “give” information, use the EPPE (Elicit – Provide with Permission – Elicit) method.  

 Understand an individual’s motivation by eliciting change talk or asking open questions that get the individual to tell you the reasons (or benefits) to make a change (instead of you telling them).  

 Practice mirroring back what you are hearing using both simple and complex reflections.  Use a stem and make a guess about their meaning. 

 Use various strategies that help to empower others. Share your agenda, agree to a length of time, clarify roles and acknowledge their expertise about their own life, provide affirmations, and use autonomy language to emphasize that any decision is theirs to make. 

 There is a process to follow when building motivation. Motivational conversations should start with engagement and understanding the other’s perspective, agreeing on the focus or topic of the conversation, building motivation and then planning. Often phases get skipped as people rush to planning.  

What are the gems that you will take with your from this traiing? What are you most proud of? What did you learn?

 “I wish that I had learned about MI earlier! It can be used in so many situations. I think the training and the online homework have helped me realize that I am capable of using MI and being successful. I am excited to start clinicals and integrate MI with the patients in the hospital.” - Alice

 "I think that if people ask me for advice, I immediately start giving them suggestions because that is what I've learned to do. After the training, I have tried to take a step back and have allowed people to tell me their story before jumping in and giving them advice." - David

 “In my fieldwork, I noticed that sometimes the case managers don’t speak respectfully to their clients. And not only did I see that, but I saw they had a certain power and control. And I thought, ‘No, I’d like to use more of a strength perspective in my social work.’ And I think Motivational Interviewing is part of that strength perspective.” - Nicola