What does it take to REALLY LEARN something new?!
Learning MI has been likened to learning a new sport or language.
What is a language or sport you have learned? One that you have gotten good at? Found your flow with?
How did you get there?
My guess is with three ingredients:
Repetition.
Practice.
Feedback.
I grew up dancing. I didn’t take one dance class and feel competent at it. I took many. Over and over again.
Repetition. Practice, lots of it. The mirrors in the studio were a way to self-correct. I learned a lot from watching others in my classes. The instruction and feedback from the teachers were another way I got better. Continual feedback.
Learning MI takes repetition, practice and feedback!
When we are really using MI, we are:
-Staying out of our Righting Reflex (telling people what to do and how to do it)
-Reflecting more than we are asking questions
-Keeping the conversation focused around their motivations for change (not our motivations for them!)
-Paying attention to their change talk, reflecting it and guiding the conversation to elicit more!
That stuff is hard to do!! It’s different from our normal everyday conversation and interactions.
Kinda like the difference between walking and dancing.
Learning to walk was a part of normal growing up. Learning to dance took intention, repetition, practice and feedback.
And the dancing metaphor is a great one to take a step further!
Motivational Interviewing has been likened to ballroom dancing– there is a guide, a direction, and syncing up with your partner is necessary for success! And gosh, ballroom dancing takes repetition, practice and feedback to do well!!
I feel so passionate about supporting each of you in your process of learning Motivational Interviewing.
That’s why I write this MI Tip of the Week, and give away as many free resources as I can!
Here are a few tips:
-Find a practice buddy
-Set up a system of accountability for yourself to practice
-Join our Facebook group, read my MI Tip of the Week or blog
-Listen to a MI podcast while you are driving around, cooking dinner or taking a walk. Here’s my favorite!
-And here’s my shameless sales plug! If you have taken an intro course, join my intermediate MI course this May! 10 hours of repetition, practice and feedback!
MI Tip of the Week: What has it taken for you to learn and integrate something new? A sport, a second language, a new habit? To learn and integrate MI, it takes repetition, practice and feedback. What is one thing you can do today to add MI practice to your world?
Let us know what you come up with!
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Hi, I’m Hillary Bolter. At MI Center for Change, Motivational Interviewing is our passion. Motivational Interviewing will help you become more effective and efficient as you support clients’ change!
