Greetings one and all,
I think it’s no secret that my favourite course to create and deliver is my Motivational Interviewing course. I like to call the course, ‘Inspiring Change’ because after all, that’s what it is all about. I have had the privilege of meeting and interviewing a slew of people from across North Staffordshire, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Cheshire, the list goes on and on. In each of these interviews I’ve learned something new. I’ve learned about the challenges that people have faced and also how (with support) they overcome these trials and made better and ultimately more positive life choices.
This week, I delivered the Staffordshire specific version of the course to employees from Staffordshire County Council. I have collated their feedback below and as you can see; the learners were suitably impressed. I too was overwhelmed by their interaction and their determination to make a difference to people’s lives. Staffordshire County Council is my own council and I particularly love training people who know that I ‘get it’ and understand the needs of the people of Staffordshire.
Big thank you to Miranda and Hazel for supporting my learning and development activities.
Learner comments:
“This was great training, enjoyable and engaging and not death by PowerPoint. Steven is very knowledgeable and interesting, and this is reflected in the way he presents his training. Will be using this to update my CPD!”
“Training is always informative resulting in learning new tools that can be put in to day-to-day Practices. Steve delivers in a fun but professional manner and encourages all present to participate with being involved.”
“Thank you once again training was Fab.”
“Thanks for a really enjoyable two days.”
“This training really made me think about how I work with families and the manner in which I pose questions. It was a great opportunity to meet other people doing different roles and to see how MI can be used across the board. It was good to see how a more structured approach to my role and family sessions can be used to better motivate and empower. Despite some minor technical issues, Steven ran this training like clockwork with clear objectives and breakout rooms to expand discussions or to develop our skills in smaller groups or pairs which was very useful.
Whereas it was hard work, I have found it very helpful, I think in person training would be even better. Steven was knowledgeable, empathetic and professional throughout with added humour to keep it fun and enjoyable. Thank you.”
“Thank you so much for the last two days – it’s been both informative and enjoyable and I look forward to reading your Blog and attending future courses!”
“Steve is a motivational and experienced, talented trainer who utilised a variety of medium in his training making it varied, informative and interesting. Steve used ‘real-life’ experiences relevant to my role enabling me to visual how the techniques can be used day to day in my role. Training was interactive and enjoyable. Opportunities to practise with a partner were useful to develop confidence of using techniques in a ‘safe’ environment.”
“Steven’s interest in the subject matter is evident as he delivers motivational interviewing with enthusiasm, there is a good mix of interactive elements to the course, making the learning experience more engaging and memorable. Steve’s real-life scenarios makes motivational interviewing relatable and realistic as does incorporating the attendees own scenarios. Thanks Steven and look forward to booking onto another of your courses!”
“Really enjoyed the course, it will be useful in my day to day role, Steven is an engaging trainer.”
“Very useful techniques taught to help engage individuals and encourage people to talk and make change. Paraphrasing, summarising, probing. Hoping to make change rather than be met with resistance or sustained talk.”
“Hopefully more services will be available in the future to assist workers and give them more tools in their kit to support families, however these techniques help us to manage expectations and encourage motivation.”
“I really enjoyed the two-day training course. The methods were made clear by Steven and the videos and activities really helped me to understand how to use them in my practice. Some of the methods I would have to be mindful using when working with some of my autistic students, as they can often struggle to plan without ideas/support and can find paraphrasing and summarising difficult, if it is not delivered back to them in their own words. It certainly made me think about the times I overpraise or try to solve everyone’s problems though. Also, how many questions I
ask. Steve has a great way of making the group feel comfortable and this encourages interaction. The activities with different people each time are great. It has been lovely to meet people from different teams. Thank you.”
“I think Steven introduced each aspect of MI in a logical manner and gave good examples of his own practice through his videos and also whilst asking us to interact with him in highlighting aspects of MI. I also think Steven provided plenty of space through breakout rooms for learners to practice each skill in a safe space. He then brought us back together to reflect and sometimes share aspects of what we had learnt. The pace of the learning was good and did not allow drift, and on the other hand allowed interest and engagement to be maintained at all times over the two days.”