Motivational Interviewing

Effective relating starts with the ability to listen, understand, and respond non-judgmentally to another person. Helping a client to connect their feelings with thoughts, and then with action is important for change. However, the most effective helping professionals are those who respect and trust that the client has the innate ability to find the best answers for themselves (with support and some guidance from the helping professional).

Helping professionals have much to offer, and much to learn from the relating that they do with clients. Motivational Interviewing is one technique that can be used to accomplish this objective. The goals of this training are to: 1) Teach professionals the skills necessary to provide clients the opportunity to change behaviors without eliciting defense mechanisms, and 2) Explore and identify myths, biases, and ethical considerations specific to the aging population.