Personalizing the MI Spirit

After reading Chapters 1 and 2 of your text, you should have a basic understanding of the guiding principles of Motivational Interviewing and be prepared to begin learning specific skills used in MI. As I have mentioned in previous communications, practice is the best way to become comfortable with the skills used in MI, and this course will allow you several opportunities to practice. The spirit of MI consists of four major components: Partnership, Acceptance, Compassion, and Empowerment. Chapter 2 of your textbook details why these are important when working with clients. For this assignment, I would like for you to reflect back on a time when you might have experienced the spirit of MI from one or more individuals. Specifically name the person(s) and explain/describe what they did to convey this to you, following up with an explanation of what you specifically appreciated about this interaction. To help guide your reflection, I have included some prompts to consider for each of the four major components of MI: Partnership: Who surprised you by treating you as an equal, a collaborator? Who served as a guide for you? Acceptance: Who communicated deep acceptance of you just as you were? Compassion: Who was concerned for and committed to your well-being, maybe even placing it before their own? Empowerment: Who brought out the best in you or saw strengths/talents that you did not see yourself? Be sure to consider all four components for each person/interaction that you describe. While you are only required to discuss one person/interaction, you are welcome to discuss more. **This assignment is partially modified from the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers TNT 2020 Practice Exercise Guidelines. It was created by Bill Miller and Theresa Moyer of the University of New Mexico. **