16-333c Motivational Interviewing: Using Compassionate Conversation to Move Clients
toward Health and Change– 6 Hour Seminar
Sara Schieffelin, L.I.C.S.W.
Saturday, July 23, 2016 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Course Description
“Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to
the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal
by eliciting and exploring the person's own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and
compassion.”— Stephen Rollnick and William R. Miller, Sheffield, UK October 2011
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidenced-based practice that came out of the addictions field and is
applicable to a wide range of presenting problems. It is currently used in the health care, mental health, and
substance abuse/recovery fields and is gaining increasing recognition for its efficacy, broad application, and
humanistic approach.
During Motivational Interviewing conversations, the practitioner engages the client in a guided dialogue meant
to uncover and heighten ambivalence around a target behavior or issue, aid the client in resolving their
ambivalence, and ultimately identify a change plan that supports the client’s self-definition of health. MI
employs a core set of skills, used within an overarching framework or "spirit" which includes respect,
promotion of autonomy and personal choice, collaboration, acceptance, compassion/empathy, and evocation.
This highly interactive and participatory course will offer the basics of Motivational Interviewing, with
emphasis on exploring and understanding the spirit of MI, and learning and practicing the core skills through
“real” plays, demonstrations, and case examples. Participants new to MI will leave with effective tools, and
those already familiar will increase their confidence and repertoire.
Faculty: Sara Schieffelin, L.I.C.S.W. is a Smith College School for Social Work alumna. She has worked
with children, families, and adults in Massachusetts and Thailand, and is currently the Clinical Director of a
program serving young adults living with symptoms of mental illness. Sara has been teaching Motivational
Interviewing since 2013, and earned her MI training certificate from the Health and Educational Training
Institute (HETI) in Portland, ME. She lives with her husband and son in South Deerfield, MA.
Learning Objectives
1. Learn and understand the spirit of Motivational Interviewing
2. Learn and begin to practice the four core skills of MI--Open-ended questions, Affirmations, Reflections, and
Summaries (OARS)
3. Understand the structure of a Motivational Interviewing conversation and how to move a client from sustain talk toward
change talk
Bibliography

Miller, W. R. and Moyers, T. B. “Eight Stages in Learning Motivational Interviewing,” Journal of Teaching
in the Addictions 5(1) (2006).

Miller, W. R. and Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, 3rd Edition. New
York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Rosengren, David B. (2009). Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook. 1st
Edition. New York, NY: The Guildford Press.