The state of motivational interviewing training in school counseling graduate programs

Abstract

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a brief, evidence-based counseling style that helps people make positive behavior changes. Scholars have advocated for MI's use by school counselors (SCs), and research lends evidence to MI's effectiveness in schools. However, there are little data focused on how SCs are trained to utilize MI. Researchers investigated MI training in school counseling graduate programs from the perspective of SCs and counselor educators (CEs). The article presents two qualitative studies that discussed the importance of MI training in graduate programs. Researchers identified six themes and discussed their implications for graduate programs.