Motivational Interviewing Step by Step

The first module focuses on learning and practicing the fundamental skills of MI. Outlining first key MI concepts such as sustain talk versus change talk and the righting reflex, Cathy Cole then guides you through the main MI techniques and other ingredients for change, with short demonstrations with William Miller. Self-paced practice exercises in which viewers can pause the video, practice the skills, and then see how Miller and Cole would respond end this first module.

A key component of making any change is to consider the change important. In this video,  Cathy Cole digs into this critical issue of increasing importance and demystifies MI by demonstrating each technique in three full-length sessions. Learn core MI techniques for increasing importance such as: reflections; chunk-check-chunk; elicit-provide-elicit; the importance ruler exercise; and looking ahead. 

Ambivalence is frequently at the heart of our struggles to embark upon change. 

Cole teaches viewers how to facilitate clients’ exploration of their dilemmas, how to reinforce change talk, and how to respond effectively when clients express their reasons for not wanting to change. Learn, through 3 real-length sessions, core MI techniques for resolving ambivalence such as double-sided reflections, decisional balance, and envisioning.

Having a plan is not enough! By identifying where exactly the client is lacking confidence to move forward, MI provides a framework and tools for addressing what is oftentimes the last obstacle to change.

Cathy Cole demonstrates here how to utilize clients' personal strengths, values, and past successes to build their confidence in the present, and how to facilitate your clients’ best efforts at following through with their change plans. 

Watch a real life session with Barbara, a client suffering from drug addiction, and practice recognizing the MI techniques (OARS) and identifying sustain talk and change talk. 

Cathy Cole leads you through 5 exercises, to help you practice Engaging, Focusing, Evoking and Planning.

For the past four decades, William Miller, the founder of MI, has researched an essential question: how do people change? In this interview, he elaborates on his findings, which in many ways turn conventional wisdom on its head. Motivational Interviewing offers an alternative that might be obvious to some and radical to others: honor the person’s autonomy, draw forth the inherent desire to change, and take a collaborative—rather than confrontational—approach.