Making changes in any aspect of your life can be really hard – even when we know our behaviour is causing us harm. Motivational Interviewing is a conversation that supports people to make difficult changes to their lifestyle or behaviour, to feel empowered, listened to and included in their own care.
Motivational Interviewing is suitable for those working in any health and social care setting and any population group including inpatient settings, primary care, education, criminal justice, end of life care, mental health and any area where practitioners support people to make good choices for them. With the release the Ten Year Plan for Health in 2024, Motivational Interviewing can actively support a shift from treatment to prevention, offering personalised care, closer to home addressing what matters most to patients and service users.
The principals and skills you will learn on this introductory course will be useful in a wide range of conversations. MI is a method of communication rather than an intervention so if we talk to people and, more importantly, listen to people, this will be helpful. It is not about being a subject expert but being there to support our service users in an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.
Learning Objectives
- To use the skills and values of Motivational Interviewing to provide a supportive and accepting environment for working with service users
- To support service users to take responsibility for their own situation and work together to determine any plans / goals
- To support service users when they are stuck, ambivalence is high and confidence is low
- Be able to draw on a range of skills and techniques which will complement our existing communication styles
- To be able to provide service users with challenge without confrontation and work with resistance