Motivational Interviewing for School Counselors

It was clear from the research we read in Graduate School that Motivational Interviewing is a powerful tool. But the articles were technical and dry and did not hit the nail on the head in terms of applying MI techniques. This book changes all that. The author is a School Counselor and it shows from page one. Every example comes from his lived experience on the job - and I can tell because I am a School Counselor! The author's sense of humor and light touch adds to the readability of the book.

I am a school counselor in a suburb of Los Angeles. As any school counselor knows, the academic, college/career planning , and especially social/emotional needs of students has skyrocketed in the past few years. I was a skeptic, but the MI method has changed the way I work with students and made me a much better school counselor. The book is written in a practical, understandable, and conversational way so that I felt I could actually implement the things I learned well. It will take more and more practice, but I am already seeing the results.

I’m a school counselor in Spain. I have Spanish and American Citizenship. I lived in USA almost 20 years. I read the book of the creators of MI, Miller and Rollnick, 2013. The name for school counselors in Spain is “orientadores escolares”. I work with teenagers and I totally agree with Reagan North: MI is the way to counsel teenagers in school. I’m glad that mr. Reagan has written a book specially for school counselors that show examples of dialogues that we have everyday with students, in Spain, in USA and everywhere. The MI counseling match perfectly the teenager’s developmental stage. It encourages autonomy, which teenagers crave. Reagan’s book is shorter that Miller and Rollnick and focused in school counseling. I would love to see the book translated to Spanish . This knowledge is worth to be shared.

It is always good to have more tools in the toolbox. I am always looking for ways to motivate the unmotivated.

This book is amazing! It is straight-forward, and at the end of every chapter there are a couple of simple suggestions for how to apply that chapter's teaching to your practice. I read one chapter per week during my internship (I am getting my Master's in Social Work), and learned how to use MI in my client interventions. I have bought extra copies to share - my mom is a 7th grade science teacher and loved getting to apply these ideas to her everyday interactions with students! If you're a school counselor OR just work with children, don't hesitate to add this short but important guide to your library - you won't regret it!

I highly recommend this book for any school counselor, school psychologist or school social worker looking for effective, evidence-based approaches to helping adolescents with academic, attendance, behavioral, substance abuse and/or other challenges. It is obvious that the author has a deep understanding of and expertise in using Motivational Interviewing (MI) in his own school-based practice--to great effect. I also very much enjoyed his clear and lively writing style. His inclusion of ample Counselor-Student dialogues clearly illustrates both the spirit and techniques of MI.At least one other reviewer suggested reading this book as a refresher if you've read others about MI. I would add that this book is also an excellent place to start!

For the person who gave the book a 2 star. Really....the information was very informative and concise. It was a really easy read, that was not long winded. The author did not come across as a "know it all" but, to me rather compassionate about his work. It was refreshing to see someone worry more about others(students) then themselves. I have been to workshops about MI and read books from Dr. Miller and other authors. This book seemed to me more like "cliff notes" for MI. I believe he kept it simple, so counselors could relate to teenagers in their stressful world.

I appreciate both the concise nature of the book and how much helpful information is packed into it. And the real-life examples illustrate well how the counseling sessions could play out. The author's optimistic and realistic attitude encouraged me as I read and took notes! I highly recommend this guide to fellow counselors who feel at a loss or just need more information on how to help increase students' intrinsic motivation.