Motivational Interviewing: Taming Your Fixing Reflex

Presented by Dawn Clifford

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Video Runtime: 46 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 14 Minutes

Enhance your patients’ motivation to prioritize their health and rehabilitation by changing the way you communicate. This course provides an overview of motivational interviewing, an effective client-centered communication technique that can be applied across disciplines. Learn how to move away from telling your patients what to do and why to do it. This course provides practical skills for communicating with compassion and nonjudgment, putting your patient in the driver’s seat.

Meet your instructor

Dawn Clifford

Dawn Clifford is a professor and graduate coordinator at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Clifford earned her BS in nutrition and dietetics at NAU and completed her dietetic internship at the Greater Los Angeles VA Hospital. After working as an outpatient dietitian for a few years, Dr. Clifford returned to school to complete…

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Chapters & learning objectives

Motivational Interviewing 101

1. Motivational Interviewing 101

Learn about the basic principles of motivational interviewing (MI) and why it’s being used by allied health professionals all over the world. Watch how practitioner–patient interactions can be dramatically enhanced with the use of MI techniques, and walk away with practical strategies to start shifting the way you communicate.

The Spirit of Motivational Interviewing

2. The Spirit of Motivational Interviewing

The spirit of motivational interviewing refers to the underlying mindset of the practitioner. This chapter covers the four different components that MI practitioners aim to maintain when communicating with their patients in order to create a judgment-free environment for rehab and recovery.

Avoiding the Expert Trap

3. Avoiding the Expert Trap

In this session, MI practitioners will become more aware of the human tendency to inundate patients with facts, figures, and recommendations for change. Often attempts to pressure or persuade patients to change are ineffective and can even reduce practitioner–patient alliance. Learn how to shift your approach from the “I have all the answers” mindset toward empowering your patients to contemplate and problem-solve the various steps on their rehab journey.