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Level 1: Foundations in Motivational Interviewing

Course Description

This 12-hour program introduces Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a practical, evidence-based approach for supporting meaningful financial behavior change. Designed for financial educators, coaches, advisors, and client-facing professionals, the course explores why information alone or advise giving often fails to translate into action—and how practitioner mindset, communication style, and readiness for change shape outcomes.

Participants will learn how to apply MI within financial education, coaching, and advising contexts, develop core MI communication skills (OARS), and navigate the four processes of MI—engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning—to support motivation and follow-through without pressure or persuasion.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the theoretical foundations, historical development, and evidence base underlying Motivational Interviewing (MI)

  • Identify the core elements of MI spirit—compassion, autonomy, empowerment, and collaboration—and their role in effective change conversations

  • Distinguish among the three primary communication styles and recognize how each functions in client interactions

  • Evaluate client readiness for change using the Stages of Change framework

  • Identify MI-consistent approaches for engaging clients who are not yet considering change, including those in the Precontemplation stage

  • Recognize the tendency to move into problem-solving or correcting too quickly and identify common communication behaviors that create resistance

  • Demonstrate the use of multiple forms of complex reflections to deepen and guide client conversations

  • Apply reflective listening strategically to support direction and momentum within conversations

  • Differentiate between simple and more advanced forms of affirmations

  • Use affirmations appropriately across a range of client situations to reinforce strengths and effort

  • Describe and apply foundational skills associated with each of the four MI processes: engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning

Course Outline

1. Foundations of Motivational Interviewing

  • Theoretical foundations of Motivational Interviewing

  • Historical development of MI

  • Research evidence and effectiveness of MI

  • MI and behavior change in contexts of ambivalence, avoidance, and low follow-through

2. MI Spirit & Practitioner Mindset

  • The core elements of MI spirit:

    • Partnership

    • Autonomy

    • Compassion

    • Empowerment

  • The role of practitioner mindset in the change process

  • MI spirit as a determinant of engagement, resistance, and momentum

3. Motivational Interviewing in Financial Empowerment

  • Application of MI in financial education, coaching, and advising

  • Distinctions between MI in financial empowerment and:

    • Clinical or therapeutic MI

    • Traditional financial literacy instruction

    • Compliance- or advice-driven financial counseling and advising

  • Financial empowerment contexts suited to MI (e.g., budgeting, debt, savings, financial anxiety, behavior change)

4. Styles of Communication

  • Overview of the three styles of communication:

    • Directing

    • Following

    • Guiding

  • Communication style and its impact on engagement, resistance, and ownership

  • Communication style choices in financial empowerment scenarios

5. Stages of Change

  • Overview of the Stages of Change model

  • Client language and behavioral indicators across stages

  • MI-consistent responses across stages

  • Precontemplation and early-stage change dynamics

  • Readiness, pacing, and resistance

6. Fixing Reflex & Communication Roadblocks

  • Practitioner impulses to correct, advise, or solve prematurely

  • Common communication roadblocks in financial conversations

  • Impact of fixing and roadblocks on autonomy, motivation, and engagement

  • MI-aligned alternatives that support reflection and client ownership

7. Core MI Communication Skills: OARS

  • Overview of OARS:

    • Open-ended questions

    • Affirmations

    • Reflections

    • Summaries

  • Integration of OARS skills in financial conversations

8. Simple and Complex Reflections

  • Simple reflections

  • Complex reflections

  • Seven types of complex reflections

  • Strategic use of reflections to guide conversations and evoke change talk

9. Affirmations

  • Affirmations and strengths-based communication

  • Affirmations versus praise or reassurance

  • Cultural and contextual considerations in affirming client strengths

10. Questions & Summaries

  • Open-ended and closed-ended questions

  • Intentional use of questions

  • Types and functions of summaries

  • Summaries as tools for consolidation and direction

11. The Four Processes of Motivational Interviewing

  • Overview of the four MI processes:

    • Engaging

    • Focusing

    • Evoking

    • Planning

  • Process awareness in real-time conversations

  • Avoiding premature movement toward action

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