“Brilliant trainer. Thoroughly engaging, I would definitely recommend." Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing with Insight Academy
Now, that’s what I call a job well done!
Greetings one and all and welcome to a short blog post.
The last two days saw my working alongside some extraordinary learners, professionals from across various parts of Stoke-on-Trent. They were all brought together by the always inspiring; Expert Citizen’s Insight Academy. These organisations included, my old stomping ground: Stoke on Trent City Council, plus the YMCA, the Citizens Advice Bureau, the NSPCC, Concrete, Staffordshire Police, Restart / Saltbox and CC Housing.
Stoke on Trent is so fortunate to have the Insight Academy. Not only are we training staff, we are utilising people’s lived experiences to inform services, we are undertaking robust research and we are definitely making a difference to communities across north Staffordshire and long may it continue.
We spent two days looking at how we can overcome ambivalence and inspire positive change behaviour from people who feel stuck and are sustain talkers. The various techniques that I espoused went down a storm with the various learners, all of whom through themselves into the tasks. I like to pride myself on creating an all-encompassing, nourishing learning environments. The secret here is to allow people to practice the skills without feeling like they may fail or fall flat on their face. Instead, everyone gets to challenge themselves in a supportive arena. There were a couple of learners who took me aside on the morning of the first day and asked that they didn’t read out in front of others as they got nervous. Half way through day, two both of those learners were leading the discussions on their tables and reading aloud with no issues whatsoever.
Thank you to everyone who attended, you are all making a huge difference to people’s lives. Your commitment, diligence and hard work is being noticed. Onward and upward.
Feedback from the learners was extremely positive with many learners highlighting the practical nature of the course and the use of lived experience to inform the case studies and the training films that I’ve created.
On with the comments:
“Thank you for two very enjoyable days, I look forward to many more sessions led by Steven.”
Michelle
“Absolutely amazing! You and your course have taught me so much. Thank you Steven, you are truly amazing, both in your job and as a person!”
Claire
“Wow! Steven is the most knowledgeable and charismatic human and I’ve learned so much from him. Thank you! 😊”
Sherrine
“Steven was fabulous and an amazing trainer!”
Stephanie
“An amazing trainer! Explained everything so well, it all made sense. Steven made the training enjoyable and fun. I feel I’ve learned a lot that I will use in my job.”
Stef
“Steven was really good at delivering the course. I would highly recommend this training to anyone.”
Noah
“Great training from Steven, he made it fun and enjoyable and easy to process.”
Catherine
“Trainer was brilliant. The course was brilliant! Lots of involvement. Loved it.”
Chloe
“I really enjoyed the training and feel confident to embed the learning within my work. I feel more confident that this will improve successful communication and gain positive outcomes for our communities. Thank you very much.”
Sammie
“Brilliant trainer. Thoroughly engaging, I would definitely recommend, I believe every support worker needs to attend this training with Steve.”
Shabana
“Informative, rewarding, and inclusive. I would recommend this course to anyone who works with clients.”
Anon
“Brilliant course, with lots and lots of techniques. I will be able to practice in my work and my wider life. A very engaging and supportive trainer with excellent knowledge.”
Anon
“Thank you, I have really enjoyed the two days and learned new ways of interacting with others, which is reflective and truly works to put people in charge of their own lives.”
Teresa
“Brilliant training which really focused on how to embed practice.”
Leila
“A fantastic course which has provided me with the knowledge and techniques to work to embed motivational interviewing into my everyday practice.”
Hannah
Would you recommend this training to others and why?
• Yes, because I think they would look at their practice more closely
• I would definitely recommend; Steven was informative and engaging
• Definitely
• 110%
• Yes definitely, the training is very informative and brilliantly presented
• Absolutely, Training was delivered in a fantastic way involving everyone in the group whilst putting everyone at ease
• Yes, course was fun and everyone was involved
• Yes, very informative and useful tools I can use in my working life
• Yes, it has been informative
• Yes
• Yes definitely
• Definitely
• Yes absolutely
• Absolutely, very informative and full of technical info
• Great facilitator, engaging, knowledgeable, very tangible tools / techniques, shifts mindset
How will the training you experienced shape your practice in the future?
• I will ensure I am using the skills and tools in my practice
• Improved engagement and communication with customers
• Will be used in supervision and will encourage practitioners to attend
• Build confidence with clients, how to get the best out of them for them
• I will be using everything I learned when completing assessments & interviews
• I learned that I haven’t been getting the best results from my current techniques and by using the motivational interviewing training I will get more
• When chatting to clients
• I will think more about how I speak to my clients / respond to them, spend more time listening
• I will put things I have learnt daily with my clients
• How to support my clients more effectively
• I will be putting the skills into practice at work and hopefully be able to give better support
• How to support my clients more effectively
• I will be practicing motivational interviewing with clients moving forward
• Help me structure discussions sessions with clients, be more focused
• It will help my role as a crime prevention officer when helping people make safe choices about their safety and to explore the best things for them!
• Far less directive + suggestive + more focus on finding solutions