"Steven was extremely knowledgeable and a fantastic teacher." Motivational Interviewing Sept 2023

September has definitely started with a bang.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of training a cohort of learners from across Staffordshire County Council. Each and every one of the learners was superb. I was blown away by their commitment to the training. They each took time to practice the skills and share good practice with one another. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is not easy and it’s also an effective evidence-based approach to overcoming the client’s ambivalence.

Staffordshire County Council have embedded MI into their support work model and judging by the feedback I’ve been getting, both client and support worker are thriving. It is always a good sign when the troops say, “I didn’t want the training to end!”

Here is the collated feedback, 100% positive comments and lots of food for thought.

• “Thank you for such a good 2 days of learning, it has been great!! I am now looking forward to start to use the new way of working. 😊”

• “Thanks for the training Steven, now to try it in practice and with my colleagues!!”

• “The training was very interactive which helped keep the interest in the subjects being discussed, there was lots of practicing within the team and then as a good which helped me to absorb the information better, once I informed Steven of my dyslexia I felt fully supported and noticed he had adapted the materials to include me. Such a great training and absolutely love his Banta. Looking forward to attending more of his courses.”

• “Thanks again for such an engaging and informative course, I really enjoyed it 😊”

• “A very interactive 2-day course that meant that the training is very ideal for a kinaesthetic learner like me. It is very easy to lose focus during training, especially when this is online, however, this was not the case in this instance as the regular activities and occasions where you were asked to answer questions kept you engaged and listening and learning. There was a wide range of scenarios that covered many areas that could crop up in practice and the opportunity to practice how a conversation may go in that area. Lots of informative handouts and access to the slides makes it easy to refresh and reflect on this training.

• “The opportunity to work with different people for each activity was valued. Sometimes in training it is easy to gravitate to someone you may know and stick to them for the duration of the training. Being integrated with colleagues from different service areas offered differing perspectives on some topics and their knowledge was able to be shared. Overall, this was a very positive experience and I feel more confident in integrating motivational interviewing into my practice. I will be looking out for more training by Steven and would not hesitate in booking on.”

• “The training was really enjoyable and has given lots of skills to use in my practice.”

• “Great training, really engaging kept the session focused and practice based. Reflecting on practice was really helpful and seeing the role plays and being told the outcomes of the customers was really interesting. Steven is very knowledgeable and experienced in what he does and makes it look easy but it’s not, I will definitely need to practice, practice, practice!!”

• “The training had lots of practical tasks which helped to see how this would work well in practice. This also helped to keep everyone engaged as it can be difficult when doing virtual training – this has been the best virtual training I have attended. Steven was energetic and made the training fun.”

• “Thank you, Steve, for a making the training informative, interesting and fun. I also have enjoyed engaging and working with different staff members. I will certainly be using some of the tools shared and discussed within my own practice such as the six-step change, and the simple double-sided and amplified responses. Hopefully, will meet you again soon. Thanks again.”

• “Really informative training course. Feel like I have learned so many skills that I will be able to use in my day-to-day work. Steven was extremely knowledgeable and a fantastic teacher. The course was fun and felt like a really good use of my time. Would recommend this course to anyone.”