Substance abuse and addiction are notoriously very difficult to treat – so much so that relapse is baked into the healing journey for nearly every client. At the core of this phenomenon is the elevated level of resistance to change that addiction commonly brings to the healing equation with such intense force. Clients must buy into the need for change. They must believe that 1.) they need treatment and 2.) they are capable of success in treatment. Ultimately, successful treatment requires lasting behavior change, and lasting behavior change requires commitment to a proven process. That proven process, as it turns out, sits inside the motivational interviewing style of therapy.

If you have been struggling to know how to engage with clients that are resistant to treatment, present with a lot of ambivalence and seem to get caught in persistent lacking motivation for change, then you are not alone! Come learn the evidence-based skills and practice of motivational interviewing (MI). These strategies can be applied to an array of different client populations and are a great set of skills to add to your overall clinical toolset! You will learn how to engage clients in change and increase their motivation through the use of empathy and motivational interviewing attitudes and language.

Attendance and Location Details

Date and Time

**This is a 6-CE online seminar delivered virtually in real-time via an industry-standard webinar platform**

Friday, May 23, 2025, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm CST / 10:00am – 5:30pm EST / 7:00am – 2:30pm PST

*Live Webinar Attendees: Zoom link and course materials will be made available to you 24-48 hours prior to event date

Agenda:

9:00am – 9:15am –

Welcome, Review of Objectives, Q&A

9:15am – 11:15am:

• Change psychology and motivational interviewing
  • Origin of change psychology
  • The development of motivational interviewing
  • Frameworks that do not work in addictive disorder treatment

• Stages of change and client readiness
  • Stages of change
  • Understanding and identifying client’s stages of change
  • How MI strategies can be applied within each stage of change

11:15am – 11:30am: Break

11:30am – 12:00pm:

Examples and demonstration of how MI strategies can be applied with the stages of change

12:00pm-1:00pm: Lunch

1:00pm – 3:00pm:

• Motivational Interviewing skills
  • Strategies to build empathy and alliance
  • The 4 process framework of MI
  • Identifying traps that prevent change and create resistance

• Ambivalence
  • Understanding the positive signs of ambivalence
  • Increasing motivation when ambivalence is present
  • Working with ambivalence in treatment

3:00: 3:15: Break

3:15pm – 4:30pm:

• Behavior Change
  • Principles of MI
  • The language of MI
  • Goals and treatment planning
• The essential elements of Motivational Interviewing
  • Identifying change talk
  • Engaging with change and sustain talk
  • communication styles of motivational interviewing

Objectives:

a). After completing this training, participants will be able to describe the origins of change psychology and motivational interviewing.

b). After completing this training, participants will be able to assess the stages of change and client readiness.

c). After completing this training, participants will be able to analyze how motivational interviewing skills can be integrated to increase client motivation and success in treatment.

d). After completing this training, participants will be able to plan how to work with ambivalence and denial.

e). After completing this training, participants will be able to learn techniques for creating motivation in behavioral changes.

f). After completing this training, participants will be able to demonstrate how to apply the principles of motivational interviewing.

Target Audience:

Mental Health Clinicians & Therapists, Social Workers, Psychologists, Marriage & Family Therapists, Counselors, School Personnel,  and Healthcare Workers.

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Instructor(s): Megan Salar, MSW, ACADC

Material Author(s): Megan Salar, MSW, ACADC

Megan Salar, MSW, ACADC, is an EMDR Clinician, Trainer and Author who earned her Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Northwest Nazarene University in 2011. She has been extensively trained on the use of EMDR and other trauma-based interventions, and she specializes in the areas of trauma, abuse, attachment and substance abuse. Megan has trained thousands of clinicians across the U.S. and internationally to help them get the most out of EMDR, trauma and addiction treatment skills and evidence-informed best practices. Megan is the author of “EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD: Skills to Manage Triggers, Move Beyond Traumatic Memories, and Take Back Your Life”, released by New Harbinger Publications in May of 2023. She is set to release “EMDR for Dummies” with Wiley Publishing in May of 2024. Megan previously owned/operated an intensive outpatient treatment center that was voted best in practice in 2019. She currently owns and operates her own Counseling, Consulting, and Training Business and is passionate about genuinely changing the landscape of mental health and trauma treatment through an authentic hands-on perspective that is uniquely her own.

For additional information about this course, the instructors, or the material authors, please contact Content Assistance at content@onlinececredits.com.

Course Materials & Delivery Method:

• Course materials (including the link to view the scheduled live webinar) are made available to all registered attendees 24-48 hours before the event start time. 
• This training is interactive and provides opportunities to ask direct questions to the trainer as well as request immediate help from staff if needed. The attendee will view the presentation in real-time from their connected device via an industry-standard internet webinar platform.

CE Approvals:

Online CE Credits has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6795. Programs that do not quality for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Online CE Credits is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Mind Works Professional Education, Inc. DBA Online CE Credits, #1974, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: July 23, 2024 – July 23, 2025. Social workers completing this course receive [see advertisement] live interactive webinar continuing education credits.

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