How can you quickly learn Motivational Interviewing skills?

1 Understand the principles

MI is based on four core principles: expressing empathy, developing discrepancy, rolling with resistance, and supporting self-efficacy. These principles guide your attitude and behavior as a motivational interviewer. You want to create a trusting and supportive relationship with the person you are talking to, help them explore their own reasons and motivations for change, avoid arguing or persuading them, and encourage their confidence and ability to change. To understand these principles better, you can read some books or articles on MI, watch some videos or podcasts of MI experts, or take some online courses or workshops on MI.

2 Practice the skills

MI involves a set of skills that you can practice and improve over time. These skills include asking open-ended questions, affirming strengths and efforts, reflecting feelings and meanings, and summarizing key points. These skills help you elicit and reinforce the person's own change talk, which is the expression of their desire, ability, reason, or need to change. To practice these skills, you can use role-playing exercises, feedback tools, self-reflection journals, or peer coaching. You can also join some MI learning communities or networks to share your experiences and challenges with other MI practitioners.

3 Apply the process

MI follows a process that consists of four phases: engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning. These phases help you establish a rapport with the person, clarify the goal or direction of the conversation, draw out their motivation for change, and develop a specific and realistic action plan. To apply this process, you need to be flexible and responsive to the person's readiness and willingness to change. You also need to use your MI skills and principles appropriately and effectively in each phase. To apply this process, you can use some MI tools or guides, such as the OARS model, the FRAMES model, the ruler technique, or the decisional balance sheet.

4 Learn from feedback

MI is a skill that requires ongoing learning and improvement. You can learn from feedback from various sources, such as your own self-evaluation, your clients or partners, your supervisors or mentors, or your MI trainers or peers. Feedback can help you identify your strengths and areas of improvement, as well as your adherence and competence in MI. To learn from feedback, you need to be open and curious, seek constructive and specific feedback, and use it to set goals and action steps for your MI development.

5 Keep it simple

MI is a skill that can be learned quickly if you keep it simple and focus on the essentials. You don't need to memorize a lot of techniques or scripts, or follow a rigid formula or protocol. You just need to remember the spirit and purpose of MI, which is to help people find their own motivation and resources for change. You also need to practice regularly and consistently, and use the feedback you receive to refine your MI skills. By keeping it simple, you can learn MI skills faster and more effectively.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?