X Table of Contents Introduction 1.1 Gospel Centered Training 1.2 Maintaining a Clear Focus 1.3 Weekly Development Plan Discussion 1.4 Quarterly Development Plan Discussion 1.5 Master Your Role 1.6 The Cadence of Accountability 1.7 Utilizing the Blessings of the Lord's Storehouse 2.1 Accountability and Talent Improvement (ATI) 2.2 Using the Leadership Pattern as a Learning Tool 2.3 Lead Like the Savior 3.1 Disability Awareness 3.2 Substance Abuse: Causes of Addiction 3.3 Substance Abuse: Signs and Symptoms 3.4 Substance Abuse: Recovery 3.5 Managing Stress 3.6 The Hidden Rules of Two Economic Classes 4.1 Inspiring Others to Become Converted in the Doctrine of Work and Service 4.2 Using AWARE Form as a Tool for Development 4.3 Attendance and Punctuality 4.4 Accepting the Work Role 4.5 Preparing for and Responding to Change 4.6 Managing My Work and Work Needs 4.7 Accepting Supervision 4.8 Coaching Associates on How to Work with Their Coworkers 4.9 Increasing Productivity 4.10 How to Use the Life Skills Library 4.11 History, Foundations, and the Spirit of Motivational Interviewing 4.12 The Stages of Change in Motivational Interviewing 4.13 Reflective Listening 4.14 Open-Ended Questions, Affirmations and Summaries 4.15 Change Talk 4.16 Ambivalence and Rolling with Resistance 4.17 The ABCs of Behavior 4.18 Using Positive Reinforcement to Achieve Behavioral Change 4.19 Introduction to Behavior Modification 4.20 Behavior Modification: Correcting Poor Behavior 4.21 Behavior Modification: Prompting Good Behavior 4.22 How to Use Positive Attitude to Facilitate Change 4.23 Conflict Management 4.24 Decision-Making Skills 4.25 Problem-Solving Skills 4.26 Improving Performance 5.1 Incorporating Assessment Results in the Development Plan 5.2 Ethics 5.3 Maintaining Confidentiality 5.4 Writing Effective Case Notes 5.5 Business Partnerships 6.1 Honoring Agency While Influencing Behavior 6.2 Teaching Self-Reliance
Lesson 4.15

Change Talk

Lesson Preparation

Before coming to your training, please do the following:

  • Read “Chapter 5: Recognizing, Reinforcing, and Eliciting Change Talk” (David B. Rosengren, Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook [2009], 88–136).
  • Read “Chapter 12: Ambivalence: Change Talk and Sustain Talk” and “Chapter 13: Evoking the Person's Own Motivation” (William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 3rd ed. [2013], 157–82).
  • Do one of the following:
    • Think about your current associates and be prepared to describe what genuinely motivates them.
    • Come prepared with an example of when someone you know went through a change. How did the person prepare for change and follow through with it?
 

Lesson Preview

Reflect on times in your life when someone has assured you that something would get done yet it never did. Or consider times when you needed someone to do something, but their response indicated that they were not serious about what you needed them to do.

In this lesson you will learn about change talk. By understanding what it is and how to recognize it, you will be better able to evoke change talk from associates and reinforce what change talk the associate engages in. To reinforce the information from this lesson and to better develop your motivational interviewing change talk skills, you will participate in a case study to practice recognizing, reinforcing, and evolving change talk.

Recognize Change Talk

From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.

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Activity 1

Read the following quote:

“Change talk is any self-expressed language that is an argument for change” (William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 159).

When we argue a point, we tend to believe it more than when someone else argues the point. When a person begins to use more change talk than sustain talk (talk that sustains staying the same), he or she begins to move toward achieving the change.

Think of examples from your personal life or work in which change talk was a good starting point for people to change. Without identifying anyone, share an example with the rest of the group.

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Activity 2

Have a group member read the following statements. When you hear sustain talk, make a buzzing noise. When you hear a change talk statement, drum with your hands on the table.

  1. 1“I'm willing to get up a half hour earlier to be on time to work.”
  2. 2“I don't see any need to change the way I apply for work.”
  3. 3“I'd like to be ready for another job before I leave Deseret Industries this time.”
  4. 4“I have to do better in this program so I can provide for my family.”
  5. 5“I went to the employment center last Thursday and updated my resume.”
  6. 6“I don't see any point in trying. Everything I do results in failure.”
  7. 7“I won't move teams. I don't like change.”
  8. 8“I seem to have some talent helping customers. I could give cashiering a try.”
  9. 9“I don't want to do anything other than write stories in my own room.”
  10. 10 “I have to make this work if I'm ever going to get my kids back.”
  11. 11 “I see no reason to go to school at this time.”
  12. 12 “I'm ready to make an effort to be to work every day I am scheduled this week.”

Reinforce Change Talk

From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.

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Activity 1

When you hear change talk, you can selectively reinforce it by using reflective listening skills. As you do this, you will increase your chances of hearing your associates use more change talk.

As a group, give two to three reflective statements reinforcing each of the following preparatory change talk statements:

  • Desire: “I feel like I'm stuck in a rut sometimes. I hope I can make progress soon.”
  • Ability: “I know I can get to work consistently. I've done it in past jobs.”
  • Reason: “My probation officer says that I'll go back to jail if I don't get my act together.”
  • Need: “I need to make more money soon or I'll be evicted from my apartment.”
  • Commitment: “I'm going to come to work on time this week.”
  • Taking steps: “I met with the Department of Workforce Services to get help with childcare.”

You could also practice giving affirmations and summaries in response to the change talk statements.

Discuss the answers given by the class members.

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Activity 2

Divide into small groups and search online for a video about the principles found in the acronyms DARN and CAT. Discuss what was learned from the video.

Evoke Change Talk

From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.

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Activity 1

Read the following quote:

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ would take the slums out of the people, and then they would take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature”

Ezra Taft Benson, “Born of God,” Ensign, July 1989, 4

Motivational interviewing teaches us that people already have much of what they need inside of them. A helping professional's main job is to help the individual draw forth what they need in order to change.

  • How does the Lord help individuals change?
  • How do the principles in President Benson's quote match the process of evoking in motivational interviewing?

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Activity 2

Read “Ten Strategies for Evoking Change Talk” (Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers).

  • What experiences have you had using these strategies?

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Activity 3

An importance or confidence ruler is an open-ended question that can be used to both measure where something is at with regard to importance or confidence to an associate and to also help evoke change talk with the associate.

Review “Using the Importance Ruler” (Miller and Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 3rd ed. [2013], 174–75) and “Readiness Rulers” (Rosengreen, Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook [2009], 98–99). An example of using an importance ruler is in the “Lesson Resources” section, resource 1.

Divide into pairs and practice asking two or three questions using the importance and confidence rulers. Then switch roles and repeat asking questions.

Regroup and discuss with the class what you learned by doing this activity.

Case Study

Complete the following case study.

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Activity 1

Split into small groups to role-play the following case study. Have one person play Jacob and another play the job coach. All other group members should observe the role-play. Instruct those playing Jacob to talk about change, enough for the job coach to practice the principles found in the DARN and CAT acronyms. After a few minutes, have the group members switch and repeat the activity until all members have participated. When everyone is finished, discuss as a class how the interactions went.

Jacob is 26 years old and has been working at Deseret Industries for about five weeks. He was both on time to work and at work for the full 28 hours for his first two weeks. But then he started coming in 30 minutes to an hour late almost daily and started missing days occasionally, averaging 17 hours a week for the past two weeks. He was fired from his last job for coming to work late, and he has never held a job for longer than six months.

Lately Jacob has been complaining about his position as a custodian and says he does not like cleaning bathrooms. He has also complained about the other custodians he works with. Additionally, he spoke of relationship difficulties with his girlfriend. Despite his problems, he has indicated that he would like to change his dependability because he has had reliability problems in past jobs.

Ponder and Plan

“What Lack I Yet?”

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 journal under the question “What Lack I Yet?”

“What Must I Do?”

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 journal under “What Must I Do?”

  1. 1 Practice recognizing, reinforcing, and evoking change talk by listening for language from your associates that evokes the principles found in the DARN and CAT acronyms. Record what you heard and how you responded.
  2. 2 Review your associates' development plans and note which are in the preparatory stage and which are in the mobilizing stage. Use open-ended questions and reflections to speak with an associate about the steps he or she is taking.
  3. 3 Discuss your experiences with change talk with another job coach trainer or development counselor. Explain your struggles and successes, and collaborate together on how to improve your ability.

After a few minutes, those who are comfortable doing so can share their impressions with the group.

“Therefore What?”

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 journal under “Therefore What?” You will be given time at the beginning of next week's lesson to share your experience with the group.

“My dear brothers and sisters, each day is a day of decision. President Thomas S. Monson has taught us that 'decisions determine destiny' [“Decisions Determine Destiny” (Church Educational System fireside, Nov. 6, 2005), 3]. The wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions is crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity. You are never too young to learn, never too old to change. Your yearnings to learn and change come from a divinely instilled striving for eternal progression. Each day brings opportunity for decisions for eternity.”

Russell M. Nelson, “Decisions for Eternity,“ Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 106

Lesson Resources

Resource 1

Importance Ruler Example

The following is an example of how a conversation using the importance ruler might go.

Coach: “On a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being not at all important and 10 being the most important thing right now, how important is it for you to have standard attendance at work?”

Associate: “I would say that I'm at about a 6.”

Coach: “Very good. Why do you say you're at a 6 and not a 4?”

Associate: “Because there's a part of me that really does want to be at work so I can earn money to move out of my parents' house.”

Coach: “So you have a desire to be at work more so you can have more independence?”

Associate: “Yeah, I don't want to be living with my parents forever.”

Coach: “What do you think it would take for you to get from a 6 to an 8?” (It is good to pick a number two higher when asking about what it will take to get to a higher importance/confidence rating.)

Associate: “I probably need to start budgeting my money better so I can start saving up for a deposit on an apartment. I tend to waste my money, and then I don't have any hope of moving out when I am broke.”

Coach: “If you managed your money more effectively, it would give you more hope.”

Associate: “You could say that. I could see myself moving out sooner if I did budget.”

Coach: “What do you think the first step to making a budget would be?”

Associate: “I know my mentor told me he could help me with it. I could text him and see if he could help me make one.”

Coach: “You can trust your mentor to help you.”

Associate: “Yeah, he seems like a nice guy who wants to help.”

Coach: “How do you feel about making that an action step?”

Associate: “I could do that.”