Welcome to the forum section of Empowering Change!

We’d like to invite you to share things you’ve learned using Motivational Interviewing, how the training has impacted you, and how it’s working with your clients. How has the training made a difference in your work? Share your experiences and enjoy the discussion in the comments below!

Comments (14)

  1. Jo-Anne W.

    The Motivational Interviewing workshop with Roxanne was fantastic. I have started using the skills in my workplace and I am already seeing a better response from my Clients. I am also using it in my personal life, as I have a brother with a disability, and I have had a very positive response in coversations with him. He even said I’d make a great counselor! Thank you Roxanne, for sharing your knowledge & enthusiasm! It really does make a difference!

    • Thanks for taking the time to post your comment Jo-Anne-motivational interviewing does make a difference! Imagine how thankful our clients feel when we are not trying to throw a solution at them but instead truly listen and reflect back what we heard and throw in some great open questions to elicit the change talk. It changes the way people feel after they leave us…

      Way to go Jo-Anne!

  2. Lisa

    Hi Roxanne, thanks again for an amazing workshop and introducing to me the skills on how to do MI. Today I was able to use the technique “lets put that on the shelf” to get my client away from his negative thinking and refocus back to our discussion about the future. It really worked and I’m excited to keep building my skills and see the changes I can make with my clients!
    Lisa.

    • Lisa, its one of my favourite techniques… it so gently moves the client away from the “sustain talk”, it seems like we can get sucked into that vortex with the clients and “putting it on the shelf” allows the client and the practioner to explore further, I also think the client appreciates the opportunity to move away from the “problem” and focus on something else too. I’m so glad to hear your “working” your new skills!

  3. vincent

    Dear Roxanne,
    Thank you so much for the wonderful MI workshop. I found the affirmations work like magic. I affirmed one of my clients last week and she cried- She told me, “That is the first time someone has said something nice about me… I am actually a good person“. Going forward, I do not attempt to solve issues for clients even before they come to sessions- we do it together; I guide them and they take the lead in exploring alternative options. I will continue familiarizing myself with the MI techniques and look forward to our next coaching session.

  4. Dear Roxanne,

    Thank you for the wonderful workshop. I actually enjoy the affirmations and using the importance/confidence and commitment scale and they all work like magic! I think it’s very helpful for those about to take the 3 day training and realize that they will see outcomes even after a 3-day training. I saw it!!!

  5. Amy D.

    On behalf of my client’s, my co-workers & myself, thank you so much for introducing the City of Ottawa to MI! Your 3-day session was truly inspirational and gave me a “new pair of glasses” to wear when working with my clients. The best thing about MI is that it really is very common sense – to elicit change, it has to come from within – nobody can tell you that you need to change – you have to want the change! I love it!
    Particularly useful were the scaling questions, the URICA, the “put it in the shelf” technique, the “righting reflex”, and the overall minimizing of the pressure on the us as employment counsellors (it feels great to not have to be the “expert”!).
    You are a dynamic, engaging, intelligent, and articulate speaker & trainer. Wishing you all the best with your ongoing research & hoping the City gets on board with the advanced training for those interested!

  6. Phyllis Moretto

    Thank you so much Roxanne for the fabulous two day workshop training for MI Training, Level II. Learning to code sessions felt comparable to learning a new language, except quicker! Your knowledge and passion for the Motivational Interviewing model is so evident, that the knowledge and passion is easily transferred to others. I know that I have seen results in my work already; but with the new tools in my toolkit, I not only will be able to say that; I will be able to prove that. We are so lucky to have had this training opportunity on Vancouver Island, thank you again.

  7. Maggie

    Roxanne, thank you so much for your inspirational training. I just finished it today and the more I think about it, the more it sinks in and the more I realize how powerful it really is! I’ve started using it with my clients and I’ve seen positive responses from them already. I’ve also been noticing a stronger connection with my clients which helps open the lines of communication. I had a particularly memorable session with a client who wanted to be in one of our employment programs but was very resistant/anxious about working and she satarted moving away from that deep seated resistance (with some tears) within the hour and I could see a twinkle of excitement at the prospect of working. You are truly an engaging speaker and facilitator Roxanne and I will always remember the lessons you offered and use them to help others help themselves.

  8. Kathy

    Roxanne…..you rock!!!
    Thanks again for the very motivating workshop that you delivered last week! I’m happy to report that I am in the “Action” stage. 🙂 I’ve found myself to be constantly putting myself in “check” when thinking about how I’m going to respond to the individuals that we are serving. I’ve also been using this in my personal life. It actually works, especially with my kids….yeh!! You have a wonderful spirit about you and I’m so glad that I’ve had the opportunity to learn from you and meet you! (How’s that for an affirmation?) 🙂

  9. Elisha

    Roxanne,

    I just finished the second part of MI and just have to say that “You are great, so great”! I know that would not get me a MiA, you would give me a MiNA hahaha.

    So far I have helped over ten resistant clients. However, only two were employment. This tool is very powerful. And yes I got to the jugular and made over half cry. I am proud of that :).

    I just wanted to say that anyone who can have you as a trainer would benefit. You have a passion and enthusiasm that shows and shines through when you talk, even your body language is uplifting. That passion, after the first half a day in training one, made me decide to do my Masters in Counselling. You lit a passion in me that has been dormant for so long. Like I have “seen the light at the end of a tunnel”. How’s that one for a complex reflection hahahaha.

    I hope I can live up to your expectations. You are to me like Bill is to you!!!

    Thank you for everything!!!

    Elisha

  10. Roxanne, thank you for all the time you have invested in making us MI experts! I am so happy with the results I am seeing through my clients. These techniques really work and I am grateful to have MI as a tool. The sessions with my clients are allowing me to truly see where there motivation lies, therefore I am able to help to set up activites that are so beneficial to them!
    Thank you again, I look forward to continuing to hone my skills!

  11. mitch

    this lady was a gracious, articulate and intelligent conversationalist, an ideal individual to have the good fortune to be seated next to, when your plane is stuck on the runway, delayed at whitehorse airport, at minus 38
    best wishes to you and your family this christmas Roxanne from a fellow travellor of the Yukon
    m.

  12. Betty Budd

    A BIG thank you to Roxanne, because there are trainers and then there are “TRAINERS”! …..You know …the kind who command attention and have perfect balance and create not only a learning environment, but a “fun” learning environment. Well that describes Roxanne! At the end of the day, I found myself thinking; the day is over already!

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