A Q&A with Christie Turner on Motivational Interviewing
What It Really Means to Help People Change, and Why MI Changed Her Life
Christie Turner has been practicing Motivational Interviewing since 2015. In 2023, she traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to become a member of MINT (the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers), the gold standard in MI education. She since has been using it with clients, supervisees, and anyone willing to listen ever since.
On August 1st, she brought that passion and expertise to an Impact CE live webinar. What followed was three hours of candid, warmhearted, immediately practical MI training.
Here is what Christie had to say in her session recorded on August 1st.
Why has Motivational Interviewing become your favorite evidence-based practice?
CHRISTIE TURNER: "I love motivational interviewing. It's my favorite evidence-based practice, and as we move through the day, you'll understand more about why that is. It has changed my life and the lives of many people I work with, my family's lives. I just think it has a lot of great things that you can incorporate into your practice.
What makes MI unique is you can use it in primary care, social work, substance use, mental health — all different kinds of things. As long as there's a target behavior to look at and a focus to talk about change, MI works with any discipline capacity."
What does the "spirit" of Motivational Interviewing actually look like in practice?
"The reason that I do this activity is in what we do, we like to pay it forward. Whatever kindness, any kind of feeling that we got that made us feel special and helped us grow — we want to incorporate that into our encounters with our people. Because people will remember what you made them feel like versus what you said to them.
I had a learning disability, and my teacher never ever made me feel like I was less than. And MI is based on that. Being a genuinely great person who wants the best for the people that they serve. That's so important."
What happens when practitioners push too hard for change?
"So people are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others. Blaise Pascal — a French mathematician and philosopher way back in the 1600s — was already talking about this. The idea that people do better when they get to participate in what the activity is, the homework, per se. When they get to verbalize if that's something they want to do.
If you think about it, if I go to you as my practitioner and I've been drinking for 30 years and you're trying to tell me I need to quit drinking — and it really calms me down, helps me sleep — that's scary. That's a comfort, even though I know it's not in my best interest deep down. So we have to meet people where they are."
102478 Motivational Interviewing and CBT: Combining Strategies for Maximum Effectiveness
16 CE Hours
Book
CBT, MI
This course, based on the text, Motivational Interviewing, and CBT: Combining Strategies for Maximum Effectiveness, is focused on integrating the methods of motivational interviewing (MI) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The authors present the basics of both interventions and then provide explanations and examples of using them in concert. This course is based on the book, Motivational Interviewing and CBT: Combining...
What is the difference between validating a client's behavior and justifying it?
"Validating is: "I can see why you did that". Justifying is: "it's okay you did that." Validating is trying to understand where somebody's coming from — to ask them why they engaged in that behavior shows that we are trying to understand and validate, and we care. But again, we just don't want to linger in it too much. We want to talk about why they consider change.
Sometimes providers think, I don't want them to talk about why they're using because I feel like that says it's okay. And it doesn't. Those are two completely different things."
How should practitioners use affirmations with clients — and what makes them land?
"To do an affirmation in MI, two things have to be there. It has to be genuine, and it has to be specific. You can't just go out and say something if you don't really mean it. People know when you're not genuine, when you don't mean it from the heart.
I was doing an intake and one of the questions asked the client to identify what strengths they possess. He leaned in and said, 'I can't think of any.' I said, 'I've only known you for 45 minutes — is it okay if I share what I feel like are strengths for you in the short amount of time I've seen you?' And he said yes. So I let my heart lead. Months later, he told me that every so often he goes back into his chart and reads what I wrote about him. And I just thought that was the saddest thing — that someone has to read their medical record to feel affirmed and uplifted."
How do you share your clinical opinion without overriding a client's autonomy?
"If there's something that I think might be helpful for my client, I'll ask permission. 'I have an idea that I think might be helpful for you — is it alright if I share that?' Or, 'I have a couple of ideas.' Ask permission. Then I share them. Then I ask what they make of it. And I say, of course it's your right to choose what's best for your life. I'm not going to tell you what to do or how to lead your life.
People want to feel respected and empowered, and anything that we can do to help with that is so important. Giving them choices. These sound simple, but these are all little things that add up to big results."
102654 Motivational Interviewing 101 for Counseling Students and Interns
1.25 CE Hours
Recorded Webinar
Evidence Based Interventions, MI
In this webinar, Aaron Norton, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, and Certified Master's-Level Addictions Professional, presents a lecture on the philosophy and basic strategies of Motivational Interviewing. This course is based on the article, Motivational Interviewing 101 for Counseling Students and Interns created by Aaron Norton. LMHC, LMFT, MCAP in 2017.
What happens when a practitioner's own cup runs low?
"We get burnout easy because we care. It takes a lot to hear and talk to people and interact — it pulls that energy. And if you're not pouring back into yourself, then you're not giving your best.
This year has been one of the worst professionally for me. I've taken on a lot of work, had a lot of job changes, staff laid off. My cup is running low. And I know for me, when I have a supervision meeting and I'm feeling like, gosh, I've got to meet with her — I know I've got to take a break. That's because that's not who I am. I'm a kind, caring person that wants the best. And if I'm going into a meeting feeling that way, I'm short-changing that person. And then that short-changes everybody that person provides service for."
What do you do when your mind wanders during a session?
"I don't know if you all have ever had this happen — somebody's talking and your mind is somewhere else, and then they stop. They've asked you something, and you didn't hear what they said. I've done that before. I will admit I'm human.
I'll offer an apology. I'm like, 'You know what? I am so sorry. My mind went somewhere else and I did not mean for that to happen. Could you ask that again? I'm with you now.' It lands well, knock on wood. People appreciate that. One of the most underestimated clinical tools — and one of the best — is the apology."
What is the single most important shift a practitioner needs to make to do MI well?
"Evidence shows that if you sit here today, take notes, engage, and do everything you need to learn — but you don't do anything with the information after — you will have lost about 90% of what you learned within 60 days. I would hate for you all to give up part of your Saturday to be in this webinar and then have forgotten all of it. So really, if you pick out some clients and start practicing it, that solidifies the learning experience.
I want you to take pride in knowing that you're doing MI with fidelity, that you're helping clients consider how they're living their lives according to what they want. Even if they're not making the change, you have done your role in MI and you've done it successfully. So I want you to take pride in that and feel good about that." ◼
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