This week we will briefly orient to the MI framework, OARS, 4 Tasks & Change Talk. As this course is all about exploring and practicing MI fidelity, and we will look at fidelity through one of the MI coding systems, the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI). Coding may sound nerdy but it offers a really neat lens to look through as we refine our MI skills! (And I love to nerd out with some MI!) This session, we will review the overall MI provider goals, what MI consistent behaviors are, as well as MI inconsistent provider behaviors! We will complete an in-session Real Play that you will have the opportunity to record (only if you want!). Real play practice opportunities. Real play? Like I get to really play? Yes, we will have a playful time. And, actually what Real Play means MI-style is that we get to really talk about something we have for-real ambivalence about in MI conversation practice. So hey, a bit of free motivation coaching on what you are wanting to work on if you want! Throughout this course, you can upload as many of your MI practice sessions as you’d like to the HIPPA-compliant Lyssn platform that provides MI coded feedback on your work. At the end of each session, you will set personal learning goals for your MI practice.

More OARS practice! What does it really look like to be displaying the MITI global domains of Partnership & Empathy over the course of a MI conversation? (Yes, you can MEASURE empathy!). We will also listen to an MI example and explore ways we can reach fidelity with MI Partnership & Empathy. And, you bet there will be more practice opportunities! We will work in small groups practicing MI skills, observing, and giving & receiving feedback. You continue to have the opportunity to record and get individual feedback on your MI practice sessions.

So we’ve got the spirit of MI grooving with partnership & empathy, but let’s not forget that MI is a guiding style of communication. This means we have a focal topic of the MI conversation where we will hear sustain talk and change talk, both sides of client ambivalence. So this week, we layer over the other two key MITI global domains, Cultivating Change Talk & Softening Sustain Talk to explore ways to artfully guide the conversation toward change. Again, we will listen to a MI example and explore ways to reach fidelity in these areas! Plus, have a chance for real time practice of Evoking Change Talk skills.

Wait, there’s more to MI fidelity? Yep! Provider behavior counts. Wait, what? My behavior counts, or are you counting my behavior? Both! We will get really good at assessing R to Q ratio (Reflection to Question), while listening for Open Ended Questions and practicing advanced change-oriented reflective listening. More Real Play practice! We will enjoy watching perhaps the best MI Real Play ever recorded, and discuss the art of MI in practice. There will be a chance to set MI learning & practice goals to take with you on the road, and practice affirming yourself and each other on the amazing work you’ve done! Woohoo!