Indigenized Motivational Interviewing for Urban Natives 

Please join the Urban Indian Health Institute for a free two-day session in Seattle, WA on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) cultural adaptations of Motivational Interviewing. There are no registration fees associated with this event. To register, please fill out the form by clicking below.

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Session Description

 Motivational interviewing (MI) is a goal-oriented, client-centered counseling style aimed at encouraging behavior change by helping clients to explore and address ambivalence. MI seeks to engage clients, promote change talk, and evoke motivation to make positive changes in a non-judgmental manner. Anyone who needs to make changes in their life comes to counseling at a different stage of readiness. MI seeks to meet the client at their level of readiness and move them towards motivation for change. MI has been effectively applied in substance dependence, healthy lifestyle promotion, chronic disease management, and other fields. As a technique, MI is consistent with Native cultures in its respect for personal sovereignty, emphasis on relationship, and belief in honoring the individual.

This two-day session in Seattle, WA will provide an overview of MI and will use skills-building exercises to introduce participants to this useful technique. This curriculum has been specifically adapted for urban Indian populations and will be presented by a speaker with significant experience adapting and implementing behavior change approaches with urban AI/AN. Participants will leave the session with a solid grounding in the tools and applications of MI, a knowledge of common traps and pitfalls, and an understanding of MI’s applicability to Native populations. 

 

About the Speaker

Lonnie A. Nelson, PhD (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), is an Assistant Professor and clinical psychologist in the Washington State University College of Nursing. He leads the program on urban AI/ANs at the university’s Partnerships for Native Health. He is a graduate of and faculty mentor in the Native Inves­tigator Development Program, which is funded by the National Institute on Ag­ing to train doctoral-level Native profes­sionals to become independent health researchers. His current research with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focuses on developing, culturally adapt­ing, and evaluating patient-centered ap­proaches to health promotion and chron­ic disease prevention for urban AI/ANs.

More Event Details

 

Travel Scholarships

 *Travel scholarships for this event have been filled.  

• Eighth and Olive: 720 Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98101; (206) 624-7417