Ranch Ehrlo staff will be better equipped to help clients through change with recent training and certification.
A number of case workers, therapists and counsellors participated in a three-day Empowering Change advanced workshop from June 24-26 in efforts to enhance their skills and abilities when working with youth and families in transition.
The Level 2, Beyond Basics workshop educated and certified Ranch Ehrlo clinical staff in the motivational interviewing approach.
“It furthers our skills and the depth of our ability to work with the families that we work with who have multiple issues and have faced difficult times for a lengthy period of time,” said Patti Petrucka, director of family programs at Ranch Ehrlo. “Research indicates that when using motivational interviewing with individuals, the outcome of the change process and the success rate at the end is heightened.”
Empowering Change founder and workshop facilitator Roxanne Sawatzky said the motivational interviewing approach is different from other counselling models and will prove useful to the staff of Ranch Ehrlo.
“I believe it will be very helpful to those therapists who do have clients who are ambivalent,” said Sawatzky. “Perhaps it will give them new tools to use, a different approach to use – that is effective.”
The goal of the motivational interviewing model is to strengthen a person’s own motivation and commitment to change based on the philosophy that a change in behaviour does not happen in one step, but rather in several successions, Sawatzky explained.
“What we’re really hoping for in this training is to enhance the therapists' skills so that parents have a higher ability to engage in the change process,” said Petrucka.” It’s about helping them get excited about changing the vision of their families.”
