Over the last two days I have been delivering my brand-new version of ‘Inspiring Change Behaviour’ – Motivational Interviewing to staff from across Staffordshire County Council Children and Families services. I have created an array of new interactive learning tools for this course, which now includes, ‘Thomasina and Augustus’ mother and son who are being passed from pillar to post by services. Throughout the training, staff got to see their journey, especially Augustus’s ‘voice of the child’ which amounted to lots of professionals talking at him. I have based the training films on several interviews that I undertook with residents from across the midlands and a bit beyond ‘hello Salford.’
By using MI, I demonstrate how both mother and son were better supported and could build trust with services again. This allowed them a degree of autonomy and eventually ‘freedom’ from support! Ideally, we equip people with the skills to go off and have an inspired, positive life. Staffordshire County Council are at the forefront of this humanistic approach to support and I applaud their endeavours.
On with the feedback:
“I thoroughly enjoyed the training, and you can see how much hard work Steven has put into creating this for Staffordshire. This was relatable and relevant to my practice, and I know it will just take practice, I can use these skills both at home and at work!”
“Both sessions were excellent, informative and engaging. Steven got to know us all and felt very personable. He had us all working with each other, which felt far more social and inclusive.”
“Steven is brilliant! The way in which he delivers the training was inspirational. He made the whole class comfortable, and this enabled us to learn and be willing to do so.”
“Steven’s training was very informative and very, very entertaining. Steven kept the information engaging and relevant and I really hope to attend more training with Steven in the future.”
“Steven’s training was incredible. He’s knowledgeable, engaging and informative. These were two days of fantastic training, and I will definitely use motivational interviewing going forward. I particularly enjoyed the different ways of learning and how Steven tailored the training to everyone’s individual learning needs. This included, small group work, working with a partner, the training videos made just for us, and most importantly the practicing of the skills. Thank you so much Steven. 😊”
“To be honest, I didn’t really know much about MI before attending this course. The learning was delivered in such a way that it was easy to grasp a difficult topic and get to grips with it.”
“The training, as with all of Steve’s training it was great. He got me to move out of my comfort zone and that was good! Steven is excellent.”
“What a fantastic course, very much involved the group, extremely informative, lots of activities to support the learning outcomes and Steven was supportive. I believe that this will be beneficial to me in both my reflections and my learning on the job.”
“Amazing training. I LOVED IT! I was never bored, and I was interested throughout. Steven has created a very informative course that me made think about how I am communicating with families and the ways in which I need to listen.”