The Stages of Change model provides a framework for councillors and therapists to refer to when identifying where a person may be in terms of the desire or motivation for change.

Motivational interviewing can be a very useful therapeutic approach to helping people change longstanding behaviours and will be our key focus for this season.

Assumptions can be one of the biggest mistakes that we as practitioners unconsciously make. Even worse, it can prevent us from approaching a client’s unique situation with full empathy. Learn how you can move past your assumptions and better help your clients.

Empathy plays a significant role in the practice of Motivational Interviewing. Some of the skills you will learn from this episode will serve as a foundation for all your client work moving forward.

As therapists, it’s important for us to support our clients in their ability to develop discrepancy. Discrepancy is the awareness between one’s current behaviour and a desired behaviour.

The skill in Motivational Interviewing is to support the client to move past their ambivalence, or ‘sticking point’. Naturally this will lead people out of their comfort zone and has the potential to lead to arguments. This episode will teach you how to skilfully do this, without falling into the trap of arguing.

Resistance is a natural and expected part of Motivational Interviewing. This episode look at how we as clinicians can use resistance to strengthen the experience, and offer better therapeutic outcomes for the client.

Self Efficacy is the belief that one can set goals and achieve them, overcoming any obstacles and hurdles along the way. Growing this belief is crucial in supporting clients to achieve the difficult goal of managing or stopping their use of drugs or alcohol.

Whilst many clients take their time opening up in therapy, it is not uncommon for the opposite to also happen. When a client over discloses personal information or trauma in uncontrolled ways, or too early in the relationship, it’s important to have the skills to sensitively work through this.

Today we break down the specific components of a relapse and define the differences between a ‘relapse’ and a ‘lapse’. It’s important as clinicians, to be able to identify these differences and treat clients accordingly. By the end of this episode we equip you with the tools necessary to prevent clients from relapsing.

When identifying triggers its important to understand that everyone is triggered by different things. This isn’t just in the case of drug and alcohol abuse, however it can also be applicable to those with addiction to caffeine or binge eating. Being able to identify those triggers early will be key to preventing your client from relapsing.

Four D’s – Delay, Distract, Deep Breathing, Drink Water

Final thoughts