Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing is a person-centered counseling technique utilized to elicit behavior change. This practice session will focus on developing a collaboration relationship with individuals to explore and resolve ambivalence to support change aligning with one’s own personal values and concerns. The session will build upon a prerequisite eLearning course to deeper explore and demonstrate the principles of Motivational Interviewing.

We are highly encouraging you to take a pre-learning course prior to this in-person course. A basic knowledge of MI will be needed for this training, and that will not be covered in this in-person training. If you have a Relias account, you can take two short trainings, Introduction to Motivational Interviewing REL-BHC-0-IMI and Use of Motivational Interviewing in Clinical Practice REL-BHC-0-UMICP. Or you can sign up for a free training through the Florida Certification Board https://fcbonline.remote-learner.net/login/index.php

 LOCATION INFO:
Ellipsis - South Campus
918 SE 11^th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309

TRAINERS:
Andrea Dickerson is a Licensed Therapist and Certified Substance Use Counselor who has worked in behavioral health since 1997. She is currently the Director of Behavioral Health at YSS. She became a Motivational Interviewing (MI) trainer in 2006 and has provided MI trainings throughout Iowa. Andrea specializes in working with adolescents and their families in residential and outpatient settings. Andrea is also a CARF International Surveyor, going around North America ensuring behavioral health organizations are meeting required standards.
Nikki Thomson, LISW, SOTP-II, is the Chief Clinical Officer for Ellipsis, FKA Youth Homes and YESS.  She started her career at Youth Homes in 2004 as a Youth Care Worker after graduating with a Psychology degree from the University of Northern Iowa.  Nikki then was promoted to a Campus Counselor; specializing in her work with youth who have sexually abused others.  Nikki completed her Masters in Social Work in 2014 at the University of Iowa.  She then returned to Youth Homes of Mid-America as a therapist.  She has been the Clinical Director since 2017 and the Chief Clinical Officer since 2021.  Nikki is an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan and enjoys her time away from work with her two children.

Registration will begin at 12:30pm. Training will begin promptly at 1pm. This training is scheduled until 4pm. 

Please note: Priority seating is provided to staff working within one of the current DHS child welfare service contracts, including: Family Centered Services (FCS); Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP) / Group Foster Care; Child Welfare Emergency Services (CWES): Aftercare Services; Supervised Apartment Living (SAL); Recruitment, Retention, Training and Support Services (RRTS); Parent Partners; Foster Care Youth Council. If you do not work within one of the current DHS child welfare services contract, you may be bumped from the course and placed on a wait list.