How motivational interviewing training might best occur.

NOW AVAILABLE!
Feedback on counselors' motivational interviewing skills
which is useful to the counselor and the agency.

Most counselors want their clients to have more motivation for the therapy. A number of counselors and agencies are attempting to use motivational interviewing (MI) to enhance client participation in treatment. This is a genuine step toward using a practice that has been empirically demonstrated to be helpful.

However, there is no "certification" for motivational interviewing and any counselor can believe or represent that he or she is competent with this style of counseling. Feedback on a counselor's actual performance is now available. Such feedback can be used by the counselor and agency to create some confidence that the counselor is really using motivational interviewing.

Although motivational interviewing is often compatible with what counselors are already doing and can be welcomed by them as enhancing their existing skills, reliably using motivational interviewing has been more problematic. Most counselors watch motivational interviewing and conclude that they are already doing it or that they can easily implement it. The empirical findings suggest otherwise.

Participants report similar increases in their knowledge of motivational interviewing whether they are learning in live trainings or trainings that are presented by video.

This self perception is accurate in that participants can demonstrate increases in knowledge about motivational interviewing (measured by how many multiple-choice questions are answered correctly) regardless of the format of the training.

Participants report increases in their skill levels regardless of the format of the training.

This self perception is exaggerated because although participants can demonstrate increases in one skill, reflective listening, central to motivational interviewing, participants typically do NOT increase their use of motivational interviewing consistent skills with clients. Following a typical workshop or training, participants are likely to believe that they have improved their skills and are using a motivational interviewing style with clients. However, counselors typically continue to ask too many questions, give direct advice, and inadequately facilitate clients experiencing discrepancy.

In contrast to traditional workshops,

on-going coaching or supervision

DOES seem to be used by counselors to learn

and put into practice motivational interviewing.

RRhode@U.Arizona.edu

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