3 Reasons I'm Excited About "Motivational Interviewing for Life and Health Coaching"
There's a new book out on motivational interviewing for health and wellness coaches and it's a keeper!
When I was working toward my Stott Pilates Certification years ago, I remember the instructor trainer sharing how her idea of a relaxing Friday evening, was curling up on the couch with a steaming cup of tea, and taking a deep dive into her dog-eared copy of Gray’s Anatomy, the classic text book of human anatomy.
While I did not share her passion for the intricacies of how the human body is structured for movement (which I should have recognized as a GLARING sign I had not quite found my professional lane), I was reminded of her story when I picked up my first copy of Motivational Interviewing, Third Edition, by William Miller and Stephen Rollnick.
By page 5, with shameful clarity, I had identified many of the roadblocks that were getting in the way of me being an effective helper with clients. Most of my activity was happening at the directing side of the continuum, and the middle child in me often defaulted to the other end of the spectrum where I was happy to go wherever the client led, which Michael Arloski, author of Wellness Coaching for Lasting Lifestyle Change and Masterful Health and Wellness Coaching, lovingly refers to as “the topic du jour.”
By the end of the book and the graduate level course I was taking that emphasized motivational interviewing (MI) as a core approach, I was coaching more regularly using a guiding style and experiencing the benefits—improved engagement and outcomes with clients along with more ease, satisfaction, and self-compassion in my own coaching experience.
I was hooked.
Since then, you can see by the image below, my exploration and learning around MI has continued through building and regularly referencing a library of resources, investing in more advanced training including MI coding workshops, and practicing more deliberately in MI groups.
Enter, Motivational Interviewing in Life and Health Coaching: A Guide to Effective Practice, by Cecilia H. Lanier, Patty Bean, and Stacey C. Arnold. IMHO, they have written the ultimate guide to how MI is used in life and health coaching and this post offers my three top reasons for why I’m stoked about this new MI resource.
#1: This is a book written FOR coaches BY coaches and you can see, feel, and relate to the information from the very first sentence.
“We chose the coaching profession because, at the core, there’s nothing quite like witnessing and being a part of a person’s journey of growth and change.”
Talk about a Renee Zellweger “You had me at ‘Hello’” moment. Who doesn’t love connecting with that deep sense of purpose we have as coaches when embarking on a learning journey that is bound to take time, effort, and commitment.
Having read many MI books and attended numerous trainings in rooms with various helper types (RDs, counselors, corrections professionals, addiction specialists, and more often these days, coaches), it is refreshing to feel like the words on the page are speaking a language I am familiar with. I also appreciate not having to perform the cognitive lift to translate the concepts from how they look and sound in other professions to how they show up in the coaching process.
The first chapter does an excellent job of identifying how health coaching is unique in its approach and reading the authors’ perspective is like revisiting and recommitting to our “why.”
#2: This book is filled with practical scenarios and examples of how the skills SOUND when part of a coach-client conversation.
As a seasoned coach trainer (I have onboarded over 150 health coaches into busy corporate settings), newer coaches often say, “I know what you’re saying, but how does it sound?” MI is truly like learning another language, and being able to hear how our responses sound in the context of a session is very much like showing an athlete how a skill feels in their body. There is a sense of, “Oh, now I get it!”
One of my favorite solo practice exercises to do with scenarios in books like this is to place an index card over the script, reading along, and trying to craft my own MI aligned responses. Truth: Always a work in progress.
#3: This book is honest about the need to go beyond reading to finding deliberate ways to practice MI (with feedback) and work toward proficiency.
Out of all the skills in our coaching toolbox, MI is the one most supported by the evidence as leading to measurable health outcomes—caveat: when practiced with competency or proficiency, which is a higher bar than most of us reach even after more than one training. This means we need to go beyond our initial introductory training experiences and find ways to practice together, ideally with skilled or moderated feedback.
Did you know that most people overestimate the degree to which they practice MI with what is known as “fidelity?” An interesting study I’ve linked here and in the resources below explains the dilemma—on the one hand, we have an effective tool, on the other, it takes a commitment of time and resources to use it effectively.
I’ll refrain from climbing on a soapbox (or suggesting we sit around on Friday nights geeking out on MI), but elevating our profession to the level of a sustainable career path with appropriate compensation structures means we must demonstrate, without a doubt, that coaching offers a path toward things that matter to payers—improved health outcomes, cost savings, elevated productivity and retention rates, and all the rest.
Fortunately, in the final chapter, the authors provide a clear and actionable path to improving your MI fluency, including ways to practice and support yourself if more structured opportunities aren’t readily available.
To SUMMARIZE (how’s that for a little MI inspired writing!):
We are deeply indebted to MI founders, Miller and Rollnick, for offering an approach to behavior change that is useful and effective when working with the stickiest of populations—those in the earlier stages of change. (I think that is just about everyone I coach or mentor!)
Now our gratitude must extend to the triad, Lanier, Bean, and Arnold for “translating” it into the mindset and heartset of coaching so we can better embrace MI as part of our core skillset.
So, if you’re up for taking a deeper dive into how MI practice factors into coaching, put on your CAPE and let’s discuss!
Lean In To Coaching Prompt: What has been your experience with learning and using MI in your coaching practice and what excites you most about this new book?
*PS: If you’re wondering, “What the heck is “CAPE?” Sorry . . . you’ll have to buy the book to find out!
Onward,
Meg
Helpful MI Resources
Here’s a quick link to Motivational Interviewing in Life and Health Coaching on Amazon if you want to check it out. (Not an affiliate link, just helpin’ a coach out!)
MINT Network: The Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers offers ongoing and affordable training experiences for all levels of practice. Pro tip: I loved learning about MI “coding” in a few workshops and found it to be a game changer in learning to listen & respond more strategically.
MI Fidelity Study: A key challenge for motivational interviewing: training in clinical practice.