Motivational Interviewing with Richmond Fellowship Queensland

“One of the biggest challenges that primary care practitioners face is helping people change longstanding behaviours that pose significant health risks” - RACGP

Motivational Interviewing is not a new concept, it evolved from clinical observations of change in alcohol dependence and a serendipitous meeting of co-founders Bill Miller and Steven Rollnick while on sabbatical at Sydney University in 1989. Motivational Interviewing is now used in various settings, including health, social care, and education, and has been established in over 40 countries.

Our Motivational Interviewing course draws on Miller & Rollnick’s most recent evolution of Motivational Interviewing as a method of interaction with people that qualified practitioners can use to enhance other therapies – or by any person as a ‘way of being’ with people seeking change. Motivational Interviewing honours autonomy and self-determination, making it safe to use cross-culturally.

The success of Motivational Interviewing is based on the premise that the practitioner does not impose change; instead, practitioners who use this method cultivate and support self-directed change in their clients or patients.

Purpose 

In 2023, Benchmarque Group was introduced to Richmond Fellowship Queensland (RFQ) a provider of psychosocial recovery services to South East Queensland. RFQ provides services based on the Collaborative Recovery Model (CRM) which is a recovery-oriented and evidence-based model of practice.  

One of Benchmarque Group’s Facilitators and MINT trainer, Mandy Lee Noble has a pre-existing relationship with RFQ from a Dietetics and Nutrition Counselling and Training relationship and could see both organisations shared mutual values and a learning ethos that would compliant and drive an extraordinary program that could deliver real impact. RFQ subsequently commissioned Benchmarque Group to develop and deliver a Motivational Interviewing Program for their Recovery Support Workers. 

Benchmarque Group’s core business is in learning design, with a rich history of working in the Primary Healthcare industry. Benchmarque Group has a dedicated in-house clinical team and our broader network of clinical practitioners to create bespoke learning content and design. We built our own Student Learning Platform, accessIQ about 8 years ago to deliver to the needs of the industry. 

As an organisation, we have the in-house capability to design contemporary learning that is interactive, engages adult learners, and creates content that enables curiosity, experimentation, and reflective practice. It is an easy experience for the learner from enrolment through completion. 

The program we designed and developed was a three-part learning experience:

1. A 90-minute e-learning module to establish the framework and explore practitioner self-care.
2. A one-day practical workshop designed to experiment and build the underpinning skills that enable motivational interviewing to be effective. 
3. A half-day Virtual Critical Reflective Workshop to share learning three to six months post the workshop. 

This approach was designed to maximise the time of the busy Recovery Support Workers but also to provide the necessary scaffolding and support to implement the skills into real-world experiences.

In parallel, RFQ and Benchmarque Group are conducting a longer-term research project to measure the effectiveness of this learning on workforce wellbeing. This project is not a necessity but an add-on where an organisation can measure impact.

The learning objectives for this program were:

• Understand the importance of self-care in support roles.
• Explain the Core Principles and Spirit of Motivational Interviewing
• Develop and apply key Interpersonal and Communication Skills in Motivational Interviewing.
• Integrate Motivational Interviewing processes with the Collaborative Recovery Model (CRM).

This course delves into the processes of MI, emphasising the MI spirit of partnership, acceptance, compassion, and empowerment. 

Through interactive workshops and reflective exercises, participants were able to develop key MI techniques such as open questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries. Together with RFQ models of care, the learning was integrated to strengthen engagement, foster collaborative partnerships and move towards setting person-centred goals for change.

In addition to building Motivational proficiency, our course placed a strong focus on the importance of self-care. The self-care practice of Mindfulness is highly consistent with MI and enhances the potential for empathy and self-compassion. Recognising the potential for self-care to reduce empathy burnout in support roles, we provide an introductory mindfulness exercise and a self-compassion tool to help you maintain your own mental health and resilience.

We received some amazing feedback from these workshops, here is one of our favourites: 

Our partnership with Richmond Fellowship Queensland (RFQ) continues to thrive and Benchmarque Group are ready to introduce a new MI course called Motivational Interviewing for Primary Healthcare.  Feedback from a range of PHNs and practitioners tells us that a learning program specifically designed for Primary Healthcare, both clinical and non-clinical team members could make a difference in healthcare by developing a positive attitude towards change, where a patient feels empowered to take positive actions in addressing their own health outcomes.

This practice can be helpful in a variety of healthcare applications including nutrition, exercise, medication adherence, prevention programs associated with chronic disease, pain management, mental health, weight management, substance abuse and settings where an inclusive approach is required for individuals at risk. 

The program learning objectives are:

• Explore how and why people change, and the role of motivational interviewing in facilitating behaviour change in the general practice setting.
• Develop fluency with the core principles and processes of Motivational Interviewing
• Develop and apply key interpersonal and communication skills that underpin Motivational Interviewing.
• Practical application of skills and knowledge – building specific practice exercises to recognise and respond to challenging healthcare clients in your setting.
• Understand the importance of self-care for those working in primary healthcare.

Click here to find out more information, speak to one of the team or make a group booking.