MI Intermediate - The Power of Change Talk - 6 hr Class
With Sky Kershner
Presented four times a year
Dec 5, 2025 - Mar 6, 2026 - June 5, 2026 - Sept 4, 2026
https://sky-intermed-class-5-5.youcanbook.me
Join our comprehensive live workshop series
For Intermediate skills and fluency in MI
Workshop Overview
The “MI Intermediate” course is designed to give you a beginning skillfulness of the heart of MI in a single interactive class.
All classes in this course will be live, and facilitated by Sky Kershner, MINT Certified Trainer.
Who Gets the Most put of this Class
Folks who get the most out of this class tend to know what OARS skills are and can use them in a conversation.If you are in doubt, take the MI-AI OARs Challenge or contact me and let’s figure it out. Or check out MI Basics if you would prefer to start there. MI Basics.
Course Agedna
MI Skills and Spirit around
- Exploring Ambivalence
- Identifying Change Talk
- Softening Sustain Talk
- DARN-CAT
Course Details
Time: 10:30am - 5:00pm ET (nyc timezone)
Format: A single 6 hour class
Cost: $95, includes AI for MI membership
Online Platform: Zoom
Register Here: https://sky-intermed-class-5-5.youcanbook.me
Testimonials
- "The application of DARN-CAT. I was struggling with the direction in the conversations, but it feels like DARN-CAT is a good tool to pick up on."
- "I wasn't familiar with DARN CAT and I appreciate the videos and the practice opportunities."
- "I can use DARN CAT in my mind as a check box and pay more attention to change talk."
- "Practicing recognizing change talk was super helpful. There are so many elements to MI, it's nice to have a focus on only one."
- "Hearing examples of change talk in the form of the cost of not changing, is incredibly helpful. I'm becoming better at recognizing it and want to keep improving."
- "How to hear change talk-even if its just a little hint"
- "I realized that I have been focusing on OARS and not so much of DARN CATS, which has been a learning bottleneck for me."
- "If you stay with the DARN, the CAT will show up"
- "The image of the cats rowing a boat... I will never forget that. Great integration of OARS and DARN CATS"
- "It was nice to learn of the organizing rubric encapsulated in THAT DARN CAT."
Register Now
Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your basic motivational interviewing skills.
Space is limited, register now if you don’t want to miss this one.
https://sky-intermed-class-5-5.youcanbook.me
Questions?
For more information, contact me at skykershner@gmail.com
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Motivational Interviewing (MI) Intermediate Course Outline
Course Focus: Identifying and Evoking Change Talk
Review of Core Concepts & Introduction to Change Talk
- Review the MI spirit, OARS skills, and foundational MI principles
- Introduce the DARN-CAT framework for identifying change talk
- Explore the importance of change talk in behavior change
Holding Ambivalence & Exploring the Stages of Change
- Develop comfort with client ambivalence and explore it deeply
- Understand the Stages of Change model and its relevance to MI
- Use decisional balance exercises to explore both sides of change
Evoking Change Talk – Techniques & Practice
- Learn strategies to evoke change talk (open-ended questions, reflections, summaries)
- Practice using OARS skills to elicit DARN statements
- Build fluency in guiding conversations toward change talk
- Softening sustain talk
- Use summaries effectively to consolidate and reinforce change talk
- Engage in complete MI conversations, integrating all learned skills
- What did you need to unlearn? What has been hardest that now comes more easily? Where do you want to go from here?
Each session will include time for practice, discussion, and feedback to ensure participants can apply the skills effectively.
Register here: https://sky-intermed-class-5-5.youcanbook.me
You might also be interested in the Fear of Feelings Course
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hkRNEAEcY3D6qAg4zchC6fEJhMLit64vPUsFundCvpc/edit?usp=sharing
Additional Resources & Course Materials:
- Text: “Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change” by Miller & Rollnick
- Handouts: Stages of Change, decisional balance worksheets, OARS reference sheets
- Practice Tools: Role-play prompts, video demonstrations
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We are all in this together
Sky Kershner, LPC, ALPS, LCSW, DMin
Assistant Professor, WVU School of Medicine
MINT Certified Trainer of Motivational Interviewing
AAMFT Approved Supervisor / CISM Trainer
304-550-0000 / www.wv-mi.com / everyday mi
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