“I cannot thank you enough for two sensational days of training." Motivational Interviewing

Greetings faithful readers of my blog,
I’ve had a very, very busy start to the year and now that we are into the next tax year, it’s all guns blazing. I’ve managed to book in my holidays and I’m insisting on having them this year – Covid be damned!
I recently delivered my two-day social care specific Motivational Interviewing (MI) training to staff from Staffordshire County Council and what a wonderful two days we all had. My new 2022 version of the course includes brand new films, resources and activities. During 2021 I spent a great deal of time researching contemporary MI practices and interviewing residents from across Staffordshire. I’ve been so fortunate in meeting some inspiring young people. Asa, Lola and Ben have helped me in creating bespoke training that tells their stories and explains their feelings of trauma and eventual reconciliation and renewal.
They were pretty inspirational and it’s lovely to read the various comments from the learners, especially in relation to my new films in which Asa, Lola and Ben make their appearance.
Here is a sample of the various learner comments, 100% positive and extremely uplifting. April is off to roaring good start.
“Fantastic two days of training enjoyed it. Learnt loads to put into practice. Steven was knowledgeable, engaging, funny, attentive, clear, Interesting, approachable. The training materials were good and realistic. Looking forward to seeing if I can do some further training with him. Thank you.”
Georgina
“I cannot thank you enough for 2 sensational days of training. Exceptionally interesting and I feel inspired and motivated to practice. Your training has put a name to what I already do and without a doubt educated me on what I can do to improve my practice for our service users. In turn, I also believe this will help me in
everyday life. What stood out for me was your obvious passion about what you do, and you are incredible to listen to and work with; your customers are lucky to have you! The ‘real’ scenarios were fantastic although at times difficult to listen to as I was appalled by the way some people were treated. There are some incredibly ‘tricky’ people out there! I live by the motto of, kind thoughts, kind words and kind deeds. This training underpins all of that.
I shall be looking out for more of your training courses, especially the ones around trauma as ordinarily this is what I support with on a daily basis.
Nice touch at the end, meditation. I am not good at it but practice and have the Headspace app and regularly promote this to others.
Finally, thank YOU for being YOU sharing your incredible knowledge and for supporting me in being a better practitioner.”
Katie
“Steve made the course fun and interesting for a virtual course, this would have been a fantastic course face to face but completely understand way it wasn’t. Steve has a world of knowledge and experience to share and delivers and shares this well. I have felt I have learnt and reflected on my own practice and thought of how and who I could try and use the motivational interviewing on. I feel I still have a great more to learn with how I deliver myself but this will come in time. The scenarios that were used again made me feel and think about past experiences i have been in or involved in and how this could have been dealt with in a more positive way for the person that was needing the support.”
Nicole
“Thank-you for a thoroughly informative and engaging 2 days. I found it really useful to learn about the different types of reflections and to have opportunities to practice these. Another aspect of the training which was helpful was looking at ways to work with clients who are resistant and how using different techniques to encourage conversation. Thanks for such a brilliant two days!! I feel like I have learnt some really useful new skills!!”
Fiona
“Steve made the training extremely accessible, fun, and provided lots of examples to put what we have learnt into context and practice! The manner in which the training was delivered was sensitive, well thought out, and structured. I will definitely be using what I have learnt into practice, and an extremely valuable tool for me as a practitioner. Lovely to have different partners and groups so we could network and work with the wider group without feeling to exposed and vulnerable. Would welcome Steve to come and observe my practice and provide meaningful feedback for me to reflect on with a view to further improving my practice and communication. Clearly a master at what he does. Thank you Steve!!”
Donna
“Terrific training delivered over two days. Steven was a very personable individual and may all feel at ease. Steven has a terrific sense of humour. Steven listened to my views and edited a task which were linked to my area of interest. Specifically, engagement with male care givers. This was very much appreciated.”
Kulvinder
“I loved having this time to reflect on my own practice and to learn techniques to improve. I will definitely use all of the techniques covered today and I feel this will make me better at my job and improve the experiences of the families that I work with. The training was interesting, informative, and the resources will be really helpful.”
Mary
“Steven was an amazing trainer. Made the sessions fun, interactive and very knowledgeable. Lots of application within social work role. I have done motivational interviewing training before so this was a refresher but gave me additional insights into its use in social work contexts. Lots of videos, activities, good for lots of different learning preferences. Excellent training would highly recommend 😊”
Becky
“This was a really helpful course and I will be using the skills gained in my work with Staffordshire families, thank you Steven!”
Lennie
“Music was a little loud on the videos and made it difficult at times for me to focus on the content but not sure if that was due to the audio settings on my headphones rather than an actual issue with the films. Loved all the practical activities and getting to spend time chatting to different colleagues in the break outs. Loved all the examples of how to apply the skills and knowledge. Thank you Steven.”
Jemma