I recently presented on the work I did through the NorthStar Youth Worker Fellowship. My paper (which will be available soon, I think) was on the value of motivational interviewing (MI) training for youth worker, particularly youth workers who are sexuality educators. I have had somewhere over 40 hours of training in MI, and a couple years ago, the leadership where I work decided that all staff should be trained. It was determined to be something that was in line with our commitment to youth-adult partnership and non-directive education and health care. Staff had two full days and then several one hour group practices, so quite the investment in time and resources. After the initial training, we did some refreshers but didn't do any in depth evaluation of the value of that investment. Participating in the fellowship seemed like a great opportunity to evaluate it and explore the way MI may or may not enhance youth work. 

Along with that, I was interested in how MI could be used in the types of group settings we work in. Those settings range from implementing evidence-based programs in classrooms to more flexible out of school time groups. I interviewed most of the educators at the Annex, our executive director, and two health mentors from another organization.  

People identified a number of benefits and challenges. The benefits included enhancing communication skills, supporting youth-adult partnerships, and role clarification. Challenges included feeling uncertain about whether or not you're using MI, not having enough time, infrequent meetings with a young person, and not knowing how to use MI in a group setting. Despite all of these challenges, everyone enthusiastically recommended that all people who work with young people should be trained in MI. However, there needs to be a commitment to continued training and discussion about MI to support practitioners in feeling confident in their MI practice. 

What I found was super interesting! There's a lot of suggestions for next steps from what I found, especially thinking more about how to use it in group settings. We've already started at the Annex and did a refresher for our monthly professional development meeting on Monday. Based on this research I did, we made sure to include opportunities for people to reflect on their MI practice and to affirm that they are successfully using it. This feels like just the start for me.