Learn Motivational Interviewing to Build Trust, Relationships around Desire for Personal Change

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect current activities.

Help people discover and talk about their desire for personal change, like managing symptoms of mental illness; reducing the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; and improving physical health. Attend our Center's Motivational Interviewing (MI) training series. Participants engage in skill-building exercises to learn MI's client-centered approaches for responding to desire for change and resistance to change among individuals with severe mental illness, substance use disorders, or co-occurring disorders. MI is a core component of evidence-based practices and other best practices and is used in many service settings:

  • Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
  • Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT)
  • Supported Employment/ Individual Placement and Support (SE/IPS)
  • Integrated Primary and Behavioral Healthcare (IPBH)
  • Tobacco: Recovery Across the Continuum (TRAC)
  • Housing Services
  • Residential Services
  • Veterans Affairs
  • Child Welfare

What Is MI?

MI is an evidence-based treatment that is one of the best available to address ambivalence to change. It is a conversational approach designed to help people discover their own interest in considering and making positive changes in their lives. It helps them express in their own words their desire for change (i.e., "change-talk") about a number of personal issues, such as

  • Diet
  • Exercise
  • Managing symptoms of mental illness and physical illness
  • Reducing and eliminating the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs

Learn more about MI from the "Practices" section of our website.

MI Training Series

  • Foundations of Motivational Interviewing, Part 1
  • Foundations of Motivational Interviewing, Part 2
  • Motivational Interviewing, Applied Skills for Practice
  • Resources for Clinical Supervisors

Note: Foundations Part 1 & Part 2 provide core concepts and skills from which participants may build proficiency with MI skills. At the completion of Part 1, we expect participants to practice the basic strategies of MI in their work settings before attending Part 2.

Consult our online event calendar for a complete list of upcoming training events