Motivation for Change

This introductory workshop will offer a basic level of information on the fundamental spirit, principles and methods of Motivational Interviewing (MI). Instruction will include demonstration of applying MI in working with adolescents and adults with mental health or substance use concerns, as well as serious mental illness or co-occurring disorders. The format of the workshop will be interactive in nature, and participants will be afforded an opportunity to directly observe, experience, and practice basic MI skills.

Specifically, participants will:

• Become familiar with the spirit, principles and methods of Motivational Interviewing.
• Be informed of the normal processes involved in behavioral change and the role of motivation, ambivalence, and stages of change.
• Learn and practice communication skills that are useful in developing trusting and collaborative relationships with clients, and that help increase their interest in making changes.
• Learn strategies that help individuals
  • Address ambivalence regarding problematic behavior
  • Discover their own reasons for making positive changes
  • Build confidence in their ability to make changes
  • Reduce defensiveness and resistance to change
  • Prepare to change, and begin to take steps towards positive change.
• Learn how to learn Motivational Interviewing from the clients you serve!

Professionals who have attended our trainings in the past: social workers, psychologist, counselors, physicians,
nurses, nutritionists, professors, health educators, and dietitians.

Instructors

Sandy Downey, LPC

Sandy is a Licensed Professional Counselor and has over sixteen years of experience as an outpatient therapist at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Community Services Board in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She provides integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment in individual and group therapy modalities.
Sandy works as part of a team responsible for the development and implementation of an Intensive Treatment Program for clients with substance use and co-occurring disorders. She has had extensive training and experience in the therapeutic use of Motivational Interviewing since 1998 and has been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT, Inc.) since 2004.
Sandy conducts training workshops in Motivational Interviewing for clinicians and staff working in social service, residential, educational, mental health and substance abuse treatment settings and for personnel working within the Department of Corrections.

Cecilia van Zyl-Knab, LCSW

Cecilia is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been in the substance abuse field since 2002. She works in the Counseling & Student Development Center at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, VA, where she provides brief interventions for substance abuse, mood disorders, anxiety, eating disorders, grief, and PTSD and conducts group therapy.
Cecilia has been providing MI trainings and consulting to JMU faculty counseling center clinicians, other teaching faculty, and Judicial Affairs and Health Center staff since 2004. In addition Cecilia provides clinical supervising and consulting to graduate counseling and pre-doctoral students who work with substance abusing clients. Cecilia has been trained to provide MI supervision, she reviews tapes and codes (MITI trained) students’ MI work and provides them with regular feedback concerning their progress and growth areas using MI. Outside of JMU Cecilia has trained the George Washington University Counseling Center, a local Harrisonburg Counseling Center, and VA State Universities Prevention and Intervention faculty.
Cecilia has also presented at APPLE Conferences for the University of Virginia (UVA) Center for Alcohol and Substance Education (CASE) both in Charlottesville, VA and Phoenix, AZ, and at an ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) Conference. Prior to her work at JMU Cecilia worked at the Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University (MCV) for the Department of Addiction Psychiatry as a clinical graduate assistant providing MI to HIV substance abusing clients and participating in research studies for smoking cessation and HIV medication adherence. Cecilia has been providing MI interventions for the past seven years and particular likes to work with resistant clients and those who feel stuck. She has taught a class on Substance Abuse Interventions with Diverse Populations, as well as a Practicum Counseling Class at JMU. She has been an active member of MINT since 2006.