About  

INTRODUCTION TO MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING 

3 Days in March 2026  -  6th, 13th & 20th March

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a particular way of talking with people about change and growth to strengthen their own motivation and commitment (Miller & Rollnick, 2023). MI provides workers with skills and strategies to support people to make meaningful changes, particularly when change is a struggle. It also offers ways to deal with common issues such as ambivalence, relapsing conditions, lack of importance, confidence and readiness to change, and discord between client and worker.

MI has a strong evidence base demonstrating its effectiveness in a wide range of areas including mental health, substance use/addictions, physical health including lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, body weight, pain, oral health and within education, employment, family, disabilities, domestic violence and custodial services. 

This practical workshop introduces participants to the core elements of MI and provides opportunities to practise skills and apply these across a range of service delivery settings. It will use a variety of formats including lecture style, videos, demonstrations of MI in practice, small group and pairs activities to practise skills, opportunities to trial MI tools and goal planning to apply in practice.

WHO CAN ATTEND

This workshop is helpful for anyone working in health care, community care, paediatrics, disabilities, educational, employment and correctional settings and working with families or violence. It is useful for those in leadership roles including supervisors, coaches, mentors and managers. It is suitable for workers and clinicians of all disciplines and backgrounds, including students. It is ideal for beginners and also those who'd like to refresh their skills, improve their confidence or who want to be updated on recent changes to MI based on the latest textbook published in 2023.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the training you will :

Understand what MI is for, when and why to use it, and how it works

Understand and be able to use relevant skills related to:

•    The spirit of MI
•    The four tasks of MI - Engaging, Focusing, Evoking, Planning
•    OARS
•    Change talk and sustain talk
•    Managing ambivalence
•    Responding to discord
•    The stages of change model
•    Offering advice and information
•    Importance, confidence and readiness

Be able to bring an MI approach to practice alongside your current approaches

Have a range of tools and strategies to use for MI

Have resources and ways to continue to develop your MI practice

 3 Days in March 2026  -  6th, 13th & 20th March

* This training will be run over 3 days in March 2026. Day 1 and Day 2 will be run online on Friday 6th March and Friday 13th March from 9am to 3pm. Participants must be able to attend both workshop sessions. Day 3 will be run online on Friday 20th March from 9am to 11am.

** The workshop times are AEST Brisbane. This workshop will fall in AEDT (Daylight Saving time) so your time zone may differ slightly from those advertised. (Don't worry though, as I'll send a reminder in the days before we begin the workshop.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Michelle Taylor has helped thousands of people learn Motivational interviewing. She is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and has led the introduction of Motivational Interviewing in services through education and training, clinical practice, resource development and supervision. 

Michelle has over 25 years experience working as an Occupational Therapist in the areas of mental health, substance use disorders and complex care. She has worked in Australia and the United Kingdom as a clinician, clinical educator and consultant. In all of these roles she has used Motivational Interviewing to support her clients and teams.

Michelle has a Master of Arts (Research) in which she explored stories, fear and empowerment. Michelle has a particular interest in integrating and adapting MI to suit the unique needs of individuals and services. She explores the way MI is an approach requiring considerable levels of auditory processing, verbal skills and executive functioning and how this can be made more inclusive and accessable. This is also a focus of her work in her business THAT MAKES SENSE -  Making hard things easier.

For more information about Michelle Taylor and Motivational Interviewing visit https://michelleataylor.com/

Important information - Please read prior to registration

This is an online workshop which includes activities and group interaction. 

The workshop will provide 12.5 hours of professional development. Registration includes all course materials - presentation notes and handouts, all tools and infographics used in the workshop, and resources and videos for ongoing learning. Completion of the Introduction to Motivational Interviewing course affords participants access to opportunities to further develop their MI skills in more advanced courses run by Michelle Taylor. 

Participation will require a PC, laptop or similar device with a video and microphone. This workshop will be run on the Zoom platform. To run Zoom you will need to download the software and have access to a reliable internet connection. If you have any questions about Zoom you can visit https://zoom.us/

For the best experience of the workshop we recommend a quiet and private space to limit interruptions, promote audio quality and afford privacy to all participants during activities. 

Registrants will be emailed the link for the workshop a few days prior to the event, along with all course materials. All workshop resources are the property of the presenter and are not for distribution.

Registration is non-refundable. Please contact us if you are unable to attend to discuss the option to transfer to a future training.

Contact Event Organiser