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"This has been the best training I have been on to date." Motivational Interviewing Sept 2021


Greetings one and all,


I recently had the opportunity to train the newly qualified cohort of social workers at Stoke-on-Trent City Council. As always with Stoke staff I was immensely impressed with their commitment to children, young people, their families and carers. Throughout the training each learner took time to share their thoughts on the current situation, life during the post Covid lock-down and the amount of work they are undertaking. It does seem pretty relentless and yes, they soldier on and still take time to learn new skills.


They are all working flat out to support and engage with people across Stoke-on-Trent, this includes children experiencing neglect, young people at risk of harm and vulnerable people who need their help more than ever. What was pretty evident was the intrinsic motivation exuding from each learner. They spoke with passion and energy about their aspirations for the city.


As you all no doubt know, I love training social workers and the learners from Stoke seemed to reciprocate my love! Here is a smattering of the learner feedback, all 100% positive.


“The training that was completed today was really informative. Steven was knowledgeable and able to engage everyone within the learning. I feel I have gained skills that will allow me to develop my practice further. I would just like to say, this has been the best training I have been on to date. Thank you very much Steven.”


Amy


“Great session with lots of practical tasks and examples. Good number of participants, which enabled people to interact with each other.”


Anita


“Tasks were clearly explained throughout, and it was useful to have groups mixed up as it enabled us to hear varied opinions. The information was laid out clearly and the use of tasks allowed the information to be put into practice and understood easily. Steven’s teaching approach was very interactive which allowed the training session to be interesting and engaging.”


Evie


“Steven made the training very interesting and exciting! He was organised and efficient and I feel like we achieved all of the course objectives – thank you, Steve!”


Jodie


“Steven had the ability to keep me interested throughout. The training was inspiring in that I was compelled to make changed to my practice and do better than I am currently doing. Video’s helped to in bed the learning so for me visually watching the videos of Steven putting the techniques into practice really helped me to know how I would put motivational interviewing into practice. I have completed this training a number of times before and I always learn something new, I had forgotten about the S.M.O.G language and reflected back to a conversation I had with a family yesterday and the training has helped me to think about how I will do things differently moving forward. Thank you!”


Kimberly


“I found this training very ‘capturing’ e.g. there was never a moment that you felt distracted or closed of a little, the trainer kept you engaged all the way through.I’m really looking forward to completing the 2-day training and can’t wait to start using my new skills that I have learnt today in my current working role. The videos that were shown were very informative and helped you to visualise how MI works, it would be very interesting to see the one with ‘Travis’s mum’. (Fab actors, they brought the videos to life). I will also remember and be aware of S.M.O.G and probing more, I feel that this will help especially through assessment sessions with families. Very engaging, thought provoking and interesting training.THANK YOU 😊”


Sadie


“Excellent interactive training. The trainer asked each of us for our contributions which kept us engaged throughout the day. Frequent breaks which was very helpful. Training related to our roles in children services was also very useful and using examples of the families we work with. Cannot wait for the second day and I hope it comes very soon and not next year! I would’ve loved to do role play by the way but that’s just me.”


Sindiwe



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