I have my master's degree in social work. Learning about Motivational Interviewing has been (and continues to be) an exciting, transformative experience for me. It's like the ethics/skills/art package I'd been looking for since I began as a helper/professional! I especially love MI's foundation in research, as I feel that people have a right to expect that I use approaches which have a good probability of being helpful. My primary experience has been in working with people who have severe mental illness (SMI) as well as substance use disorders, and I'm grateful for all that these people have taught me through the years.
I've worked for many years to help community mental health centers implement evidence based practices, including Integrated Treatment for Dual Disorders (IDDT) and the Strengths Model of Case Management. I have also co-created a variation of the Strengths Model targeted toward people with co-occurring mental health and substance use diagnoses. This new model seeks to create sustainability at implementation sites by providing MI coaching and coding to an identified specialist, who will then become responsible for ongoing MI skill development with staff. Most recently, I have been project leader for a team serving people experiencing first episode psychosis. I've been a member of the MINT since 2005. I have experience coding MI and providing feedback using the MITI. I've been privileged to train on MI at various locations around the US in such areas as health promotion, behavioral health, addictions, and corrections.
