Speaker: Andrew Kurtz, MA, LMFT
Clinical Specialist & Co-Director, Pacific Mental Health Awareness Training
UCLA Health
Andrew Kurtz is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been a Clinical Specialist with UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs since 2014 and is the Co‐Director for UCLA ISAP’s Pacific Mental Health Awareness Training project.
Mr. Kurtz has previously served as a program director in community mental health, specializing in optimizing access to integrated services through a same‐day assessment center. He has served as the lead contact of a nationally recognized Trauma‐Informed Care implementation that provided staff trainings and program design assistance to improve trauma services, including developing a one‐of‐a‐kind wellness center focused on reducing barriers to accessing care for individuals exposed to traumatic events.
Mr. Kurtz has been the instructor for the Fieldwork Practicum course in UCLA Extension’s Alcohol and Drug Counseling Certificate Program since 2017. Mr. Kurtz has a background in research on cognitive and behavioral interventions for the treatment of first‐episode schizophrenia diagnoses.
Description:
Motivational interviewing (MI), a behavioral health coaching approach used by health education experts, psychologists, and therapists, is an evidenced-based tool for helping promote changes in health behaviors. The technique of MI was developed in the late 1970s as way to coach patients with addiction challenges change their behaviors . Evolving to an evidenced-based counseling method, MI is utilized in therapy sessions and clinical settings. For it to be successful, a trained motivational interviewer will first assess a client’s reasons for desiring a behavior change. The interviewer then expresses empathy and supports the client by reinforcing the client’s ability to change, strengthening their self-efficacy . The MI expert helps the client as they struggle with change and assists them in working toward achieving their health goals.
Case managers and disability management specialists need to be aware of this effective health coaching approach. In this webinar, they will learn what type of clients might benefit from a motivational interviewing approach and how to find an MI expert. They will learn how MI could help clients with substance use disorders, those who have nutritional deficiencies or eating disorders, and those who need motivation to exercise more frequently. The participants will better understand other behaviors that the technique can influence.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
After this presentation, the successful participant will be able to:
- Identify which clients may benefit from working with an MI specialist;
- Explain the psychological basis and evidence for the MI approach;
- Recognize which health behavior problems would be amenable to changing via MI;
- Differentiate those clients who need alternate communication approaches; and
- Describe the training and certification of MI experts.
To earn CE credit, please view the webinar here.