Navigating Client Obstacles and Reluctance and Fostering Change and Growth with Motivational Interviewing

This course is approved for 6 hours of continuing education by the Order of Psychologists of Quebec (OPQ).

General description

Clients often find themselves stuck when trying to change or grow. Ambivalence, fear, lack of confidence, confusion and resistance to change can all create a state of tension and frustration, making it hard for them to imagine, hope, believe, and act, and for clinicians to get “unstuck” and be truly effective. Motivational Interviewing (MI) helps clients become clearer, feel more grounded, and rediscover their best selves, facilitating more natural change and growth.

This workshop will help clinicians assist and support their clients and patients in the journey that is therapy by overcoming resistance and ambivalence. Dr. Wagner will frame MI skills and strategies in this context, showing how the approach can be applied to various clinical challenges, including health behaviors, relationships, addictive patterns, and mental health issues.

After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify and conceptualize various elements related to change, including ambivalence, resistance, and motivation
2. Recognize and manage the "fixing reflex" in therapeutic contexts
3. Cultivate the therapeutic style and spirit of motivational interviewing
4. Differentiate between "sustain talk" and "change talk" and implement strategies to work with both
5. Flexibly move through the core tasks of motivational interviewing, including engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning 

About the speaker - Dr. Chris Wagner

Dr. Chris Wagner, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who works for the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Health Professions. His practice has spanned health, mental health, and addiction services, incorporating motivational interviewing since the 1990s. He began contributing as an academic to the development of MI theory and practice soon after, including works on integrating positive psychology elements into MI and expanding MI beyond behavioral change. His most significant contribution was co-authoring, along with Karen Ingersoll, the Guilford-series Motivational Interviewing in Groups book, currently under revision for a second edition. Dr. Wagner frequently provides training on MI and other therapeutic approaches, has led international training of MI trainers, and served on the international MI Network of Trainers ( MINT) steering committee and board of directors.

About this workshop

This workshop was given live, online in September 2024.  The content provided here is a recording of that workshop, offered as a series of brief videos.