TEDx – Radical Self-Leadership: Banish self-doubt with 3 essential practices
What does it take to banish self-doubt and embrace radical self-leadership?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtFUoA_0fwE In October of 2019 I had the honour of joining an extraordinary roster of thought...
View Article5 Questions to Foster Learner Engagement
How do you want to travel? Lately I’ve been thinking about individual accountability for engaging in learning, and the delicacy in creating a climate where each person in the room feels as...
View Article2018: New Year’s Resolutions
Live More Intentionally The turning of the calendar represents an opportunity for change. Who can resist a clean slate and a fresh start? This year I am determined to: Listen more, and do so more...
View ArticleThe Four Processes of Motivational Interviewing: Spotlight on Planning
Planning for Positive Change In each of three previous posts, we looked at Motivational Interviewing (MI) as having four key processes and reviewed practice exercises targeting the first three...
View ArticleThe Four Processes of Motivational Interviewing: Spotlight on Evoking
Evoke change talk to enhance motivation for change Previously, we looked at Motivational Interviewing (MI) as having four key processes and reviewed practice exercises targeting the first two...
View ArticleThe Four Processes of Motivational Inteviewing: Spotlight on Focusing
Focusing means strategic centering with a collaborative goal In a previous article, we looked at Motivational Interviewing (MI) as having four key processes: Engaging, Focusing, Evoking and...
View ArticleThe Four Processes of Motivational Interviewing: Spotlight on Engaging
Engaging is the Relational Foundation In their 2012 edition of the Motivational Interviewing “textbook”, Miller and Rollnick outline four recursive processes of MI. My colleague Wayne Skinner and...
View ArticleEngagement
Nothing is possible without engagement In any interpersonal interaction, nothing is possible unless there is engagement. This is true whether it’s a one-to-one counselling session, a classroom...
View ArticleHow the best slideware equals poetry
Honesty is the best poetry I’ve written elsewhere about “PowerPoint Best Practices” and why slide design can make the world a happier place. Images are like poems: their economy is such that they...
View ArticleThe Art of Listening
It’s the practice itself that really matters I found this on Twitter the other day, and it got me thinking about the art of listening… Your spelling lesson for the day… Can you turn the letters in...
View ArticleQuestions to ask yourself… for a meaningful life
“Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.” – e. e. cummings I’ve been thinking about how our questions define who we are today, and who we will become. At a conference last...
View ArticleIntegrating Compassion into the Course Syllabus
Educating the heart It’s the end of another academic year, and summer stretches tantalizingly forward. A good opportunity to reflect on the past year’s teaching practice, what went well, and...
View ArticleHow to start – and end – your next presentation with impact!
Begin with the ending, end with the beginning The best presentations are structured like a really good story, with a clear beginning, middle and end. Dale Carnegie’s famous axiom offers a skeleton...
View ArticleAdvancing Practice in Group Facilitation
It’s not our problem – it’s the group’s problem! Last week I had the pleasure of working with a number of seasoned group therapists around advancing their practice in group facilitation. It is a...
View ArticleEmail tips for when the going gets rough
The spirit and skills of Motivational Interviewing (MI) can transform even the most delicate email conversations Responding to email can be tricky at the best of times, and when emotions run high...
View ArticleMotivational Interviewing: Affirm Autonomy
Why is it sometimes so hard to accept the personal agency of others? Yesterday’s continuing professional education workshop on Motivational Interviewing was an absolute joy. Just me and 10...
View ArticleThe Basics of Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing is a form of collaborative conversation for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change. In a recent workshop I presented on Motivational...
View ArticleReflective Listening 101
Why is Reflective Listening so difficult? And so important to clinical practice? We all want to be understood – that’s the major impetus for any form of communication. And the...
View ArticleLost in Translation
When words (and worlds) collide This week I facilitated a webinar on Motivational Interviewing for members of the Ontario Association of Social Workers. I like how webinars offer...
View ArticleHow can we effectively motivate change?
Reflections on motivation and why people change How to motivate change is a big question for clinical educators and practitioners because someone else’s behaviour change is, in...
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