I am the author of A Happier You: A Seven-Week Program to Transform Negative Thinking into Positivity and Resilience, Clinical Associate Professor, and Director of the MS in Applied Positive Psychology at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. My primary interests in the field of psychology include motivation, meaning, hope, MI process, positive emotions, positive psychology, and integrating MI with cognitive-behavioral therapy. I joined the MINT in September 2012 and presently work with psychology students, medical students, and physicians in helping them develop MI skills and spirit. Positive psychology and MI are synergistic approaches to enhancing well-being. In the Happier You program, we use MI in a group format to help participants become more ready to find strengths and access positive experiences.
I have 17 years experience as an MI practitioner, beginning in 2007 as a counselor on a smoking cessation study at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. As Bill Miller and Steve Rollnick have suggested, MI indeed changes you. This person-centered, collaborative way of guiding people through ambivalence quickly took root in my broader work as a mental health therapist. I have used MI in outpatient mental health, school clinic, inpatient psychiatric, and medical settings. It became a key part of my work with culturally diverse, underserved populations in West Philadelphia, who often presented with dual diagnoses and trauma histories. I have also regularly used MI while working as a Behavioral Health Consultant in primary care practices, most typically addressing treatment participation, weight loss, smoking cessation, and medication adherence.
I became a member of MINT in September of 2012 and completed my dissertation in June 2013 on MI's effects on hope, meaning, and empowerment in dually diagnosed individuals. As a trainer, most of my experience comes from sharing MI with graduate psychology students, medical students and healthcare professionals who work in busy settings. MI can be a natural fit for high-volume medical practices that seek to engage patients in services, improve satisfaction, and support healthy lifestyles during brief consultations. It's one way to introduce more compassionate, person-centered care in traditionally top-down, expert-driven interactions, changing how systems of care operate at a fundamental level. As we work to establish a Patient-Centered Medical Home at PCOM, MI has become a key part of our integrative efforts.
I have lectured on MI at several Continuing Medical Education workshops, including the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association's Clinical Assembly, Mercy Fitzgerald Grand Rounds, and the PCOM Hershey Family Medicine Conference. Most recently, I've trained social workers, nursing staff, and psychology students at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia.
As part of my work with graduate psychology students, I established an MI learning community at PCOM from 2009 to 2011 where we used videos, real plays, experiential exercises, readings, and discussions to explore the foundation of MI and learn from each other. I've also taught an Advanced MI elective for Clinical Psychology doctoral students at PCOM. In facilitating MI learning, the most important principle I try to follow is modeling the approach, evoking its method and spirit from learners by using reflections, summaries, and thoughtful open questions.
I am currently available to offer presentations or workshops at introductory and advanced levels, and would look forward to discussing how MI can potentially help your organization.
