Our April presentation was on Motivational Interviewing (MI), a client-centered and directive style of counseling that helps people prepare for change by exploring and resolving their ambivalence about change. The speaker this month was Dr. Christopher Dunn, Ph.D, an Associate Professor and counseling psychologist on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Dunn specializes in training medical practitioners to use a brief version of Motivational Interviewing to help their patients make healthy lifestyle behavior changes.

Through his presentation, Dr. Dunn not only gave background information on MI, describing the method and demonstrating key features, he also helped SCA members understand how MI can be used to address, among other issues, smoking, drinking, medication adherence, exercise, and diet. Feedback from attendees included appreciation for Dr. Dunn’s ability to provide practitioners with practical skills they can begin immediately incorporating into their own therapeutic approaches.

So thank you, Dr. Dunn!