Before coming to your training, please do the following:
The success of Motivational Interviewing (MI) has made it a much-sought skill by professionals across many industries. Deseret Industries strongly encourages its application to further associates’ progress and promote the best possible working relationships.
This lesson will address: (1) the origin, history, and success of Motivational Interviewing; (2) the four elements of the spirit of MI; and (3) ways to help you successfully apply the elements of the spirit of MI.
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
Read “The Discovery of Motivational Interviewing,” found in the “Lesson Resources” section, Resource 1. Then, divide into small groups and discuss the following questions:
Motivational Interviewing encompasses a set of skills, techniques, methods, and attitudes that help individuals make decisions and changes in their lives.
Individually, take a few minutes to ponder:
Divide into small groups, and share your thoughts on the questions above.
Then, read the following and discuss the questions below:
Miller and Rollnick explain that a key component of Motivational Interviewing is developing empathy—an appropriate heart and mind. They also state:
“In a very real sense, practicing MI over time teaches one this underlying spirit” (Miller and Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing, 35).
There are four elements of Motivational Interviewing:
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
As a group, review the four elements of Motivational Interviewing listed above. Discuss the importance of each of them and how they each relate to your work with associates.
Then, read 2 Corinthians 3:6 and the following quote:
“When we began teaching MI in the 1980s we tended to focus on technique, on how we do it. Over time we found, however, that something important was missing. As we watched trainees practicing MI, it was as though we had taught them the words but not the music. What had we failed to convey? This is when we began writing about the underlying spirit of MI, its mind-set and heart-set” (Miller and Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing, 26).
As a group, discuss:
Individually, take a minute to ponder:
Divide into four groups. Each group will discuss one of the four elements of Motivational Interviewing based on the following guidelines:
Regroup with all attendees. Divide the board into four parts. Each group will write the element discussed and its definition, then share key points of the discussion with the whole class.
Individually, take a minute to ponder:
The facilitator will give each learner a printout with a song’s lyrics. As a group, try to read the lyrics at the same rhythm.
The facilitator will then play the song for the group. Follow the lyrics as you listen to the song.
Discuss the following as a group:
Read the following:
Miller and Rollnick use the metaphor of a song to describe the spirit of Motivational Interviewing. Song lyrics could be like the content of an MI session (strategies such as OARS and change talk). The song’s structure, such as the chorus or key changes, might be MI principles that shape the form of the song.
But it is the melody that creates the music; this is the spirit of Motivational Interviewing. Melody determines the mood of the song and underscores the lyrics. Melody is what we tap our feet and hands to, even when we don’t know the lyrics. This “Melody” is what we bring to encounters with clients, while still recognizing that the other elements are important. (In David B. Rosengren, Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook [2009], 13.)
As a group, discuss:
Individually, answer the following questions in your learner’s journal:
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
As a group, identify situations in which a job coach trainer, staff member, or missionary could apply Motivational Interviewing techniques. List these situations on the board. Divide into four groups. Each group will be assigned one of the four elements of the spirit of MI (listed in the previous section under “Recognizing the Spirit of Motivational Interviewing”).
Each group should perform two role-plays, if possible with different people in each role-play. One of the role-plays will show a situation with the assigned element missing; the other one will show the effective application of the assigned element. For example, if the group has been assigned the element of Partnership, the first role-play could show how a job coach trainer tells the associate what, when, and how to change; and the other role-play could show how a job coach trainer truly works as the associate’s partner to help him or her to change.
If time allows, do all role-plays. As a group, compare and contrast each pair of role-plays, and add anything you find helpful regarding the spirit of MI.
Then, individually ponder:
Answer the following questions in your learner’s journal:
Individually, take time to ponder which of the four elements of the spirit of Motivational Interviewing you would like to work on. Then, work with a partner to share your concerns, discuss, and practice how to improve on that particular element. Feel free to ask pertinent questions and be open to receiving feedback. Do the same for your partner, and be as helpful as you can when giving feedback and counsel.
After you have practiced and discussed how to improve on an element of the spirit of MI, those of you who would like to can share what you have learned with the rest of the group.
Finally, take a minute to write in your learner's journal two to three things you would like to do to internalize this element of MI whenever you work with associates.
Seek to identify a personal or business gap or need.
Spend a few minutes silently pondering what you've discussed during this lesson. Listen as the Holy Ghost helps you identify areas where you can improve. Record your impressions in your learner's journal under the question “What Lack I Yet?”
Seek ways to close the gap or develop the required talent(s) to meet the need.
With the guidance of the Spirit, create your plan of how you will improve and close the gap(s) you have identified. You may use one or more of the exercises below, your own strategy, or a combination of both. Record this plan in your learner's journal under “What Must I Do?”
After a few minutes, those who are comfortable doing so can share their impressions with the group.
Seek understanding, and then share what you learned.
During the week, focus on implementing the plan you created. Record your impressions or lessons learned in your learner's journal under “Therefore, What?” You will be given time at the beginning of next week's lesson to share your experience with the group.
William Miller knew nothing about alcoholism as an intern at the VA hospital in Milwaukee, but he listened to the stories of those who struggled with alcoholism, and later did his dissertation on problem drinking. Through studies conducted from 1973 to 1983 Miller’s findings indicated that individuals undergoing therapy sessions to treat their alcoholism showed the same levels of improvement as individuals working through treatment on their own. Therapy didn’t seem to have any impact.
Intrigued by this finding, Miller took a closer look at the therapists themselves. What he found was that there were actually very effective therapists in addition to very ineffective therapists. By combining them in the data, the impression was given that therapy had been ineffective for treating alcoholism, when in reality therapy had only been ineffective for those with ineffective therapists. Those individuals whose treatment sessions involved effective therapists showed considerable improvement, much more than those who had gone home with a book. The difference was empathy.
Based on these findings, Miller could soon predict client outcomes based on how well a therapist listened, and that therapist’s level of interest in what was said. Miller had discovered hard data connecting higher levels of empathy with greater effectiveness as counselors.
On a sabbatical in Norway, young psychologists at an alcoholism hospital came to William Miller to role-play their difficult cases. As these psychologists questioned Miller on his approach to dealing with significant resistance, Miller verbalized his empathic decision-making process for the first time. He called it Motivational Interviewing.
(Taken from Dr. William Miller’s address, “Motivational Interviewing: Facilitating Change Across Boundaries” to Columbia University Teacher’s College, March 6, 2009 at the Fourth Annual Health Disparities Conference.)
Use this material if you would like to learn more about Motivational Interviewing.