MI Community Connections: Being Someone Good to Talk to

Title: Being Someone Good to Talk to

Description:

Being “Someone Good To Talk To” is something many of us aspire to be--in life and practice. While skill practice with feedback is helpful, it is also important to understand why certain practices are helpful and what makes them beneficial. This continuing education topic deepens understanding and develops skillfulness by using the Inside-Out method (Rosengren et al., 2024), based on the Personal Practice Model (Bennett-Levy & Haarhoff, 2019). We will also use Helen Mentha’s 2021 book, Someone Good to Talk To, as an organizing focus. This session employs discussion, brief didactics, demonstration, debriefing, skill practice, and extended self-practice and self-reflection to deepen understanding of how practitioner behaviors impact us personally and then apply this to our treatment and prevention work. This 3-hr session will focus on interpersonal and communication skills, which research has demonstrated make a difference in client outcomes (Miller & Moyers, 2021).

Goals:

Participants will recognize that by focusing on a few core communication concepts in the course of a real-play they can improve the use of their skills in their work with clients. They will then have an opportunity to experience these skills in a self-practice exercise and then engage in a deliberative, self-reflective process to extend these skills to their practice situations.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, participants will:

• Be able to identify two core ideas within an essential communication area.
• Practice two essential skills (affirmations and summaries).
• Have an experience in the use of that skill in a real-play.
• Experience these skills from the Inside Out.
• Describe a plan for extending this skill into their practice situation.

Length:

3-hour session with a 15-minute break. Participants receive 3 hours of continuing education credit for completing the sequence.

Target Audience:

This session presumes basic knowledge of MI Concepts. It targets skill refinement and enhancing understanding of the “why” of skill application. MI trainers, as well as practitioners, may find the session of value.

References:

Bennett-Levy, J, & Haarhoff, B (2019). Why therapists need to take a good look at themselves. Self-Practice/Self-Reflection for evidence-based practices. In Sonia Dimidjian (Ed.) Evidence-Based Practices in Action (pp 380- 394). Guilford Press.

Miller, WR, & Moyers, TB (2021). Effective Psychotherapists. Clinical Skills that Improve Client Outcomes. Guilford Press.

Rosengren, DB, Johnston, L, & Hilton, C. (In preparation). Experiencing Motivational Interviewing from the Inside Out. Guilford Press.

Featuring:

David B. Rosengren, PhD, President and CEO, Prevention Research Institute; MINT Member; IPPA Member

David Rosengren, PhD, a clinical psychologist with a background in treatment, research, and training, is CEO of Prevention Research Institute (PRI). Previously, he was a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. He helped establish the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (an international association spread across 40+ countries and six continents). In addition to Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook, Rosengren has co-written MI from the Inside Out (publication date October 2024). His treatment and training experience spans criminal justice, substance abuse, major mental health disorders, adolescents, and the spectrum of social and health services. Beyond MI, his current interests are in self-determination theory, positive psychology, and implementation intentions, as well as implementation science and dissemination of evidence-based practices and programs. He has been a featured presenter and trainer around the world.