OPEN PDF TO VIEW & READ: ‘Four Aspects of Motivational Conversations‘ [Paul Burke’s M.I. TIP of the Week #1726]

INTRO COVER LETTER:  Greetings MI Folks! – from Sudbury, Ontario

This morning, as I write this, I’m about to go into Day 2 of my newest “Advanced MI Skills” workshop, I’m in Sudbury, Ontario – home of “Canada’s biggest nickel”!

When I was a kid, I had a coin collection which was comprised mostly of nickels because that’s all I could really afford! The Sudbury “big nickel” was something of a marvel to me! It has taken me almost 50 years – but sure enough, here I am – and today I’m going to make my pilgrimage to this monument of the nickel mining capital of Canada. As a trainer over the last several years, I’ve been to all kinds of cities and towns that have “big” icons to show off their heritage and pride. I’ve seen a giant Easter egg; a UFO landing pad; Paul Bunyan; a big tomahawk; and many, many others. Now – finally – I’ll see giant money!

I flew here from London over the weekend, and my seat mate was a retired physician who had a special interest in chronic disease management. We talked a little about his  frustration at how difficult it was, sometimes, to “talk people into quitting smoking” (his phrase; not mine) even with patients who were dealing with long-standing lung disease. I asked him how he usually went about “talking people into quitting” and through his answer, the source of his frustration quickly became apparent. He explained that he used to give all of his patients who smoked, a “pep talk” on various ways to go about quitting and some of the well-known pitfalls to avoid. That led us to talking about the four interactive aspects of MI conversations (aka the “Four Processes”) and my doctor friend was fascinated. I grabbed my pen and drew a picture of the 4 Process model on my WestJet napkin – and of course, that triggered my thoughts about what might make a good T.I.P this week!

Four Aspects of Motivational Conversations [Paul Burke’s M.I. TIP of the Week #1726]