Led by Alasdair Cant with interviews and examples from leaders and practitioners from local authorities

Practical assignments to reinforce learning. Get all the information you need to submit your assignments - written, audio or video

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You will recieve accreditation from CPDSO (25 hours), an internationally recognised body for Professional Development

Individual feedback on your assignments from Alasdair Cant and the team, allowing you to reflect and develop your learning

Each cohort is part of a small, interactive online classroom to engage with your peers and form professional communities

In this lesson, we look at the spirit of Motivational Interviewing which is centred on Compassion, Acceptance, Partnership, and Empowerment (CAPE). This helps by using a strengths-based approach that focuses on what is strong, not what is wrong, and practising empathy, positive regard through kindness, congruence in being authentically ourselves, and curiosity rather than taking a fixed position too soon.

In the first lesson on The Cycle of Change, we help you align with where someone is in their behaviour and adjust our response accordingly, from pre-contemplation, where we let go and listen, to contemplation, where we work with curiosity, and the decision phase, where questions help give the client ownership of their plan

Picking up where we left of last lesson, Cycle of Change - Part Two looks into how action involves taking small steps toward real change, maintenance reflects the process of encouraging sustained progress, lapse represents a learning opportunity in the journey, and relapse involves returning to near-original behaviour.

Using examples of Motivational Interviews, we learn about the four key tasks in MI. These involve engagement through good rapport, focusing on the central topic of the conversation, evoking motivation through listening, and planning collaboratively with the person rather than for them.

Ambivalence is a natural part of change. This lesson helps us to acknowledge sustain talk about the status quo without indulging it, while drawing out and emphasising change talk using open questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries.

In this lesson, we focus on engaging with those in a heightened emotional state. We must avoid falling into competing monologues, remain engaged by acknowledging strong emotions, use active listening to reframe hidden positives, and stay in the emotional "dance."

A direct challenge can lead to conflict, so using supportive challenge connects with the person before the challenge. We frame these challenges as an expression of puzzlement that invites their help and uses overstatement to help them better locate their situation without feeling judged.

The Drama Triangle is a tool to make sense of difficult interactions, where the victim expresses helplessness and seeks a rescuer, the rescuer has a strong "fix-it" reflex, and the persecutor attacks to make others back down, but progress is made when we empower others to find their own solutions, and the challenger uses energy constructively for better outcomes.

In this lesson, you get the chance to watch a full-length motivational interview which will give you a chance to label the skills we've learned after the last few weeks.

In this, the final lesson of the course, we recap all the material covered in the previous nine lessons. You will also have the opportunity to reflect on the progress you've made and the changes you hope to see in your life and work going forward.