Motivating Youth To Make Positive Changes

1. Motivating Youth To Make Positive Changes • Gary Lasater • Trainer – Consultant • Aumsville, OR

2. Motivational Interviewing & Stages of Change • Learning Goal • To become familiar with the process of change and how to help youth change • Understand Stages of Change and how they apply to youth

3. Motivational Interviewing & Stages of Change • Performance Objectives • Explain why telling a youth what to do does not work • Identify basic Motivational Interviewing Techniques • Demonstrate basic Motivational Interviewing techniques learned during this training.

4. Motivational Interviewing & Stages of Change • MI: A method for promoting change in youth who do not necessarily want to change • SOC: Recognizing when they are ready for change.

5. Motivational Interviewing& Stages of Change • These are not forms of therapy. • They are tools to help you apply whatever approach you use to facilitate change in behavior.

6. Motivational Interviewing & Stages of Change • The adults belief that the youth can change is the single biggest predictor of success • Rothman, University of Manitoba, 2006

7. Motivation Theory • When you ask someone to do something, if you want them to be motivated then ensure that it falls within their current level of competency. • W Miller

8. Stages of Change

10. Precontemplation“not ready”The Youth does not see their behavior as the problem Goal: Identify defenses and raise awareness of problem behavior • Types: • Reluctant • Resigned • Rebellious • Rationalizing

11. Contemplation“unsure”The youth recognizes that there is a problem but may not necessarily be ready to do anything to change it. Goal: Assist youth to make a decision for change

12. Preparation“ready” • The Youth has recognized the behavior is a problem and has expressed a desire to do something about it. or • The youth knows the consequences of the behavior but has expressed a reluctance to change • Goal: To move the youth into active change

13. Action: The youth is self-motivated to change their behavior. • Maintenance: The youth is using strategies to maintain positive behavior. • Relapse: The youth goes back to their old behavior, at least temporarily.

14. Motivational Interviewing • Who created M.I.? • William Miller, Ph.D. • Stephen Rollnick, Ph.D.

15. Motivational Interviewing MI is a directive, youth-centered style useful for eliciting behavior change by helping youth to explore and resolve ambivalence Miller and Rollnick 2002

16. Motivational Interviewing • Why was M.I. developed? • Clinicians in the addictions field wanted to address the shortcomings of the traditional techniques of confrontation and punishment that was prevalent in most treatment programs.

17. Motivational Interviewing-Basic Premise • Motivation to change is elicited from the youth, and not imposed by the adult.

18. Motivational Interviewing-Basic Premise • It is the youth’s task, not the adults' to articulate and resolve his or her ambivalence

19. Motivational Interviewing-Basic Premise • Direct persuasion is not an effective method for resolving ambivalence.

20. Motivational Interviewing-Basic Premise • The interactive style between adult and youth, is generally a quiet, non-confrontational one.

21. Motivational Interviewing-Basic Premise • The adult is directive when helping the youth to examine and resolve ambivalence.

22. Motivational Interviewing-Basic Premise • Readiness to change is not a youth trait, but a fluctuating product of interpersonal interaction.

23. Motivational Interviewing-Basic Premise • The interactive relationship is more like a partnership or companionship than expert/recipient roles.

24. The Principles of Motivational Interviewing • Miller and Rollnick (2002) outline four broad principles that underlie MI. These are more specifically related to the application rather than the philosophy of MI.

25. Motivational Interviewing • Four Core M.I. Skill Sets for Foster Parents: • Validating • Also referred to as “Empathy” • Resisting the Righting Reflex • Also referred to as “Rolling with Resistance” • Developing Discrepancy • Also referred to as “Understanding Youth Motivation” • Empowering • Also referred to as “Supporting Self-Efficacy”

26. Motivational Interviewing • Validation Skills (Empathy) • Validation is simply letting the youth know that you hear what they are saying and acknowledging that it is a problem for them • Validation does not = approval • Why validate? • Puts youth at ease • Lowers defenses • Promotes problem solving • Diffuses power struggles

27. Facilitating Change Using MI • Develop Discrepancy (Understanding Motivation) • The young person develops discrepancy between how things are now and how they might like them to be • Change is motivated by a perceived discrepancy between present behavior and important goals or values

28. Motivational Interviewing • Developing Discrepancy • Recognize “Change Talk” • Ambivalence towards change can be thought of as a candle flickering. See the flicker and provide the cover. • “I dunno, that Teacher made me so mad, I told him I had my homework but I lost it. I didn’t want to get into it with him, but he treated me like I was lying and I went off on him. If he had just kept his mouth shut, then I wouldn’t be in this mess now, my mom is going to be so disappointed in me”

29. Facilitating Change Using MI • Roll with Resistance (Resisting the Righting Reflex) • Avoid arguing for change • Do not directly oppose resistance • New ideas can be explored but don’t necessarily have to be imposed • The young person is a primary resource in finding answers and solutions • Resistance is a signal to respond differently

30. Facilitating Change Using MI • Support Self-efficacy (Empowering) • A young person’s belief in the possibility of change is an important motivator • The young person, not the adult, is responsible for choosing and carrying out change. • The adult’s own belief in the young person’s ability to change becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

31. Building Motivation • OARS • Open ended questions • Affirmation • Reflective Listening • Summary • Change Talk

32. Experience Motivational Interviewing • Divide yourselves into groups of two • One person will be the speaker, one the listener • Follow the directions on the handout

33. Take a minute…… Think about a significant change in your life…one you’ve already made, are in the process of making, or would like to make ………… Consider how challenging the process of making this change has been or will be for you Change………..

34. Tips and Techniques • Three techniques for changing youth perceptions • Exception Questions • Scaling Questions • Past Likes and Dislikes

35. Exception Questions • Have there been times recently when the problem did not occur? • When was the most recent time when you were able to (perform the desired behavior)? What’s different about those times? Who was involved? How did this happen?

36. Scaling Questions • On a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is your problem solved and 1 is when it was at the worse, where are you now? • You said a moment ago you were at 3, what would have to happen for you to move to a 4, just up one step?

37. Past Likes and Dislikes • We are never the first person to work with the youth that stands before us. • It is useful to find out from them what folks did that the youth liked or did not like. • A great amount of information is available to us by just asking.

38. The End