How to make climate friends and influence people by.... listening to them? : An intro to motivational interviewing

Rebalancing Act

Motivational interviewing (MI), a style of personal interaction you can learn in a few weeks, is a key solution for spurring action on climate change. MI was developed by psychologists originally in work with patients suffering from addiction, but now is used in many settings to encourage self-reflection and help change minds. In this episode we talk with Vince, an expert in MI who will give us examples and talk about the process. Kiran and Leslie Anne will reflect on the value of MI and how they see it being used and we will hear about windmills and birds in climate allies this week!

Show Notes:

https://www.enviromentum.org/

Vincent Schutt’s organization Motivational Interviewing organization, Environmentum

Vince’s book recommendation: Motivational Interviewing with Adolescents and Young Adults, by Sylvie Naar-King and Mariann Suarez

https://motivationalinterviewing.org/

Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers - gives an explanation of MI and how to start learning

https://coady.stfx.ca

The Coady International Institute - where Leslie Anne learned about Motivational Interviewing. They offer leadership courses and programs

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.6592

Painting windmills black could reduce bird mortality rates by up to 70%! An exciting climate win-win-win to advocate for

https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/motivational_interviewing.pdf

A Motivational Interviewing resource - page 3 highlights the types of questions and relational style at the heart of MI. This includes asking open-ended questions, affirming, reflecting, and summarizing.