Main description:

Deliberate practice exercises help clinicians develop competence in fundamental motivational interviewing skills to better assist clients with change goals, like quitting addictive behaviors and developing healthier habits, and to improve treatment engagement and retention.

These exercises present role-playing scenarios in which two trainees act as a client and a clinician, switching back and forth under the guidance of a supervisor. The clinician improvises appropriate and authentic responses to client statements organized into three difficulty levels-beginner, intermediate, and advanced-that reflect common client questions and concerns.

The first 12 exercises focus on specific skills, such as offering simple and complex reflections and affirmations, eliciting change talk, supporting client autonomy, and collaboratively mapping session agendas. These are followed by two comprehensive exercises-an annotated transcript and free-form mock therapy sessions-in which trainees integrate essential skills into one session.

Step-by-step instructions guide participants through the exercises, identify criteria for skill mastery, and explain how to monitor and adjust difficulty. Guidelines and forms to help trainers and trainees get the most out of training are also provided.

Contents:

Series Preface
Tony Rousmaniere and Alexandre Vaz
Acknowledgments
Part I: Overview and Instructions
Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview of Deliberate Practice and [Therapeutic Approach]
Chapter 2: Instructions for the Motivational Interviewing Deliberate Practice Exercises
Part II: Deliberate Practice Exercises for Motivational Interviewing Skills
Exercises for Beginner Motivational Interviewing Skills
Exercise 1: Simple Reflections
Exercise 2: Complex Reflections, Part 1: Guesses at What the Client Means
Exercise 3: Complex Reflections, Part 2: Guesses at Underlying Client Emotions or Values
Exercise 4: Reflections and Open-Ended Questions
Exercises for Intermediate Motivational Interviewing Skills
Exercise 5: Eliciting Change Talk
Exercise 6: Reflections of Client Change Talk
Exercise 7: Double-Sided Reflections
Exercise 8: Dancing With Discord
Exercises for Advanced Motivational Interviewing Skills
Exercise 9: Simple and Complex Affirmations
Exercise 10: Autonomy Support
Exercise 11: Agenda Mapping
Exercise 12: Elicit-Provide-Elicit
Comprehensive Exercises
Exercise 13: Annotated Motivational Interviewing Practice Session Transcript
Exercise 14: Mock Motivational Interviewing Sessions
Part III: Strategies for Enhancing the Deliberate Practice Exercises
Chapter 3: Additional Guidance for Trainers and Trainees: How to Get the Most Out of Deliberate Practice
Appendix A: Difficulty Assessments and Adjustments
Appendix B: Deliberate Practice Diary Form
Appendix C: Sample Motivational Interviewing Syllabus With Embedded Deliberate Practice Exercises
References
About the Authors
Index