Subject/Topic: Motivational Interviewing in social work practice: knowledge and skills and clinical Interventions

Name and Qualifications of the Presenter:

Mary Armour, LCSW-R, is a licensed clinical social worker in New York, who has worked in various social work, mental health and higher education institutions as direct practitioner, clinical supervisor and program/clinic supervisor. Ms. Armour is certified in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, the supervision of the therapeutic process and in analytic group therapy. She maintains an agency supervisory program position with supervision of social workers in Brooklyn & Staten Island and a private practice of psychotherapy and clinical supervision for social workers in Manhattan and Long Island.

Throughout her social work career Ms. Armour has also taught supervision courses and workshops for social workers, psychologists, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists (MFTs), educators and others on the multiple topics in the professional’s work. She has consulted on program & professional development for a large social service agency including supervision of motivational interviewing of staff and collaborative documentation with clients. She is a supervision, didactic and experiential analytic group instructor. She has also consulted on the development, writing & images for non-profit annual reports.

Ms. Armour’s work includes a background, competency and sensitivity to a range of cultural and socio-economic issues as well as experience with specific challenges encountered by a variety of mental health and medical populations. A humanistic recovery model is used with brief definitions and histories of structural racism in the United States and international advocacy for previously oppressed & currently oppressed groups will be included. Ground rules for a safe professional environment will be created and the students will be encouraged to provide their own disguised examples when race, class, age, gender and/or sexual orientation presented challenges for them in their daily work and their career development.

Description of course:

The eight session course will explore the skills and experiential application of motivational interviewing (MI). The first two sessions will cover an introduction and review of MI. The third and fourth sessions will be working with disguised case examples to discuss the cycle of change in each case example. The fifth and sixth sessions will explore using MI to improve effectiveness and efficiency in managing a clinical case load in agency, clinic, private practice and educational settings. The seventh and eighth sessions will develop methods of supervising motivational interviewing on both the program and individual supervisee levels.

Time frame: Each session will be four hours long over the course of 4 sessions, offering 16 course hours total.

Location: First Steps to Recovery, 312 W 47th St. Ground Floor, New York, NY 10036
Dates and times: Sat 2/6/16 10:00am – 2:00pm, Sun 2/7/16 10:00am – 2:00pm, Sat 2/13/16 10:00am – 2:00pm, Sun 2/14/16 10:00am – 2:00pm

Teaching Methods:

The course is geared to adult learners and will use verbal, written and/or PowerPoint presentation of material by the instructor; interactive large group discussion of concepts and of participants’ practice; small group work involving experiential exercises, sharing of personal, clinical and professional experiences, sharing of work experiences with instructor facilitated feedback, and responses to material presented; reading assignments and discussion of the reading; handouts of resources and tools. Audio and video taped examples of clinical work and experiential exercises may be used with consent.

Learning Objectives:

Session One: Introduction to Motivational Interviewing Part One
In session one, students will learn (1) The underlying principles of MI. (2) They will both learn & practice the use of MI’s basic skills. & (3) The students will learn how to begin to hear change talk.

Session Two: Introduction to Motivational Interviewing Part Two
In session two, students will explore and learn (1) Techniques for addressing client’s change talk. (2) Practice moving a client from one phase of change to another phase of change. & (3) How to create an action plan with the client collaboratively.

Session Three: Motivational Interviewing Practice Part One
In session three, students will practice and learn by (1) Briefly stating the underlying principles of MI. (2) The students will use MI in small groups to practice basic Motivational Interviewing skills using case examples distributed by the instructor. & (3) Each small group will present their case to the whole class, demonstrate MI skills they employed & receive feedback from the instructor.

Session Four: Motivational Interviewing Practice Part Two
In session four, the students will discuss and learn (1) The change talk they hear in small group case examples. (2) Each small group will role play how to move a client in their case through one phase of change to the client’s next phase of change. & (3) How to create an action plan for their case in a small group and present the action plan for feedback from the instructor.

Session Five: Motivational Interviewing To Effectively Manage A Case Load
In session five, the students will understand (1) How motivational interviewing increases the effectiveness of their work with clients. (2) How their specific position or practice is positively impacted by using motivational interviewing. & (3) How to document their most effective motivational interviewing interventions using a case example they bring in from their work.

Session Six: Motivational Interviewing To Efficiently Manage A Case Load
In session six, the students will practice and learn (1) How motivational interviewing saves time in their work with clients. (2) How their specific position or practice is enhanced by using motivational interviewing for time management. & (3) How to more quickly document their motivational interviewing interventions.

Session Seven: Supervising Motivational Interviewing for Self, Supervisees & Programs Part One
In session seven, the students will learn how to improve their ability to (1) Self-Assess a Motivational Interviewing session with a client, supervisee or program meeting. (2) Self-Assess their own and another students documentation of an MI session. & (3) Self-Assess MI documentation in a treatment plan and/or a case record depending on their current position(s).

Session Eight: Supervising Motivational Interviewing for Self, Supervisees & Programs Part Two
In session eight, the students will learn how to (1) Assess a Motivational Interviewing session with a supervisee and give feedback. (2) Assess their own stage of change regarding a goal in a small group and in the class with instructor feedback. & (3) Develop an Action Plan for Self, Supervisee and/or Program.