—by Matthew K. Weiland and Paul M. Kubek
Sherrodsville, OH—Three consultant-trainers from our Ohio SAMI Coordinating Center of Excellence (CCOE) initiative participated in a three-day international Motivational Interviewing Network Training (MINT) at Atwood Lake Conference Center from April 29 through May 1. This "train-the-trainers" event was attended by some 40 behavioral healthcare professionals from all over the world, including approximately 20 from Ohio. The training was conducted by MI co-creator and co-author William R. Miller, Ph.D. and Theresa Moyers, Ph.D. The event was coordinated by Ann Carden, Ph.D, a private-practice consultant and trainer from Ohio who has worked with Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) for many years. MI is one of the core components of IDDT, as well as of Supported Employment, the evidence-based practice and Tobacco and Recovery, a stages-of-change model.
MINT is an ongoing international initiative to promote the accurate and effective use of Motivational Interviewing (MI), which, Miller and Moyers emphasized, is a method for helping people address their ambivalence to make personal, meaningful changes in their lives. Candidates for the MINT initiative must be experienced in the use of MI and must complete an application process, which includes the submission of audio recordings of their use of MI and a review of those tapes by MINT consultants. Acceptance to and participation in the MINT initiative gives individuals access to a national network of professionals and, thus, the opportunity to share ideas and best practices for MI training and consulting.
The following from the CCOE participated in the MINT event held in Ohio in April:
- Christina M. Delos Reyes, M.D.
- Jeremy Evenden, MSSA, LISW
- Deborah Myers, MEd, PCC
Improving Practice In Ohio
According to Ohio SAMI CCOE Director of Implementation Services Patrick E. Boyle, MSSA, LISW, LICDC, the CCOE is participating in the MINT initiative as a way to add to the pool of advanced MI consultants and trainers in Ohio. The CCOE provides a regular schedule of MI training and provides ongoing consultation at state hospitals and community-based organizations. Participation in MINT helps the CCOE enhance its work and, thus, will help service organizations expand the pool of service providers and clinical supervisors who use this conversational technique competently and effectively. Having provided MI consultation for several years now, the CCOE has come to realize that as simple as some of the MI principles can be, it nonetheless can be complicated to do.
"The intention is to take this effort and really enhance our ability to train more people in a more effective way," says Boyle, "and to help improve supervision of the practice. This will be important, not only to IDDT, but also for Supported Employment and our Tobacco & Recovery project as well."
Competency-Based Supervision
Boyle notes that there seem to be several large needs relative to motivational interviewing in Ohio. One of the primary needs is for supervisors to be equipped to assess the competency of practitioners in delivering the practice and to help them enhance their skills. Therefore, the Ohio SAMI CCOE is emphasizing and encouraging the use of competency-based supervision and resources such as the "Motivational Interviewing Assessment: Supervisory Tools for Enhancing Proficiency (MIA-STEP)". This resource provides a more systematic method of helping assess a person's developing competence with specific MI skills.
Sources
- Motivational Interviewing Website
- William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick (2002). Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People For Change (Second Edition). New York: The Guilford Press.
- Theresa Moyers, Ph.D., Center for Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions in Albuquerque, NM.
- Monty Roberts Website
- Stephen Rollnick, Pip Mason, Christopher Butler, Chris Butler (1999). Health Behavior Change: A Guide for Practitioners. New York: Churchill Livingstone.
- Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, SAMHSA (1999). TIP 35: Enhancing Motivation for Change in Substance Use Disorder Treatment. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Competency-Based Supervision
Martino, S., Ball, S.A., Gallon, S.L., Hall, D., Garcia, M., Ceperich, S., Farentinos, C., Hamilton, J., and Hausotter, W. (2006). Motivational Interviewing Assessment: Supervisory Tools for Enhancing Proficiency (MIA-STEP). Salem, OR: Northwest Frontier Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC), Oregon Health and Science University
The Ohio Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Coordinating Center of Excellence (Ohio SAMI CCOE) is an initiative of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices (CEBP) at Case Western Reserve University. Matthew K. Weiland, MA, is senior writer and producer and Paul M. Kubek, MA, is director of communications.