Practice and dissemination of motivational interviewing: A psychology internship curriculum.

Abstract

Sufficient training in substance use issues has been identified as a common gap in professional psychology graduate training. Satisfactory training in evidence-based practices has also been identified as a common gap for providers who care for individuals with substance use problems. The "practice and dissemination" curriculum we developed seeks to address both of these gaps during the predoctoral internship training year by first training psychology interns to competently deliver motivational interviewing (MI) to individuals with substance use problems and then train community providers and volunteers to do so. From 2012-2013, a total of 55 community providers and volunteers from a homeless shelter, a substance use treatment facility, and a community mental health facility received training in MI through this curriculum by attending continuing education events delivered by 17 psychology interns. Evaluation of the dissemination portion of the curriculum as part of an exempt educational research project revealed that community providers were able to achieve significant increases in MI knowledge, readiness to implement MI, and MI skill as assessed with a video analogue measure by the end of the workshop. They also reported satisfaction with the workshop. These evaluation findings provide preliminary support for the curriculum as a novel and efficacious way to disseminate MI to community providers. Research is necessary to determine long-term outcomes of such training and to identify strategies to overcome potential barriers such as the substantial faculty effort necessary to implement the intensive curriculum. JULIE A. SCHUMACHER, PhD, is professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She received her doctorate from Stony Brook University and completed an internship at Napa State Hospital. Her research and professional interests include motivational interviewing, prevention and treatment of substance use and dual disorders, and violence and trauma.SCOTT F. COFFEY, PhD, passed away during the revision of this manuscript. Prior to his death, he was a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He received his doctorate from the University of Mississippi and completed his internship at the Medical University of South Carolina. He was best known for his work on negative emotion, trauma, and substance use disorders.

Education and training in substance use disorders: A roadmap to move forward.

“…Utilizing advanced trainees to disseminate research on addiction and empirically supported treatments can also increase exposure to SUD-related research and treatment. Schumacher, Coffey, Williams, Madson, and McAfee (2020) present a program in which clinical psychology interns were trained in motivational interviewing (MI) and subsequently trained to teach MI. This dissemination increased understanding of MI for community providers and arguably deepened the knowledge of MI among the participating interns.…”

Moving the needle to promote education and training in substance use disorders and addictions: Special issue introduction.

“…Throughout the issue, authors provide compelling arguments and illuminating summaries of the need for HSP involvement in SUD training and the consistency of HSP goals, values, and competencies with more traditional SUD treatment approaches, including addictions counseling, master’s-level training, and 12-step approaches (Breuninger et al, 2020; Burrow-Sánchez, Martin, & Taylor, 2020; MacKain & Noel, 2020; Martin, Cimini, Longo, Sawyer, & Ertl, 2020). Several articles describe model programs and outcome data supporting training in service delivery and research across doctoral and internship levels, often alongside other professions (Davis, 2020; Martin et al, 2020; McCarty, McDowell, Sher, & McCarthy, 2020; McCrady, Witkiewitz, Venner, & Fokas, 2020; Schumacher, Coffey, Williams, Madson, & McAfee, 2020). These articles provide a diverse array of examples of how training can be tailored to meet different program goals and constraints, offering possible remedies to the challenge of how to incorporate training into the HSP training sequence in ways that are “right-sized” for different programs.…”

“…These articles provide a diverse array of examples of how training can be tailored to meet different program goals and constraints, offering possible remedies to the challenge of how to incorporate training into the HSP training sequence in ways that are “right-sized” for different programs. Finally, two articles address the role of training in treatment dissemination to improve access to care (Schumacher et al, 2020; Scott et al, 2020).…”