Communication Masterclass: Motivational Interviewing Health

In this lesson, you’ll learn what motivational interviewing actually is and how it differs from traditional advice-led coaching and rehabilitation conversations. We’ll break down the core idea that MI is not about persuading or convincing, but about helping people uncover their own reasons for change. This shift is key when working with clients who already know what to do but struggle to follow through.

You’ll explore how MI focuses on strengthening internal motivation rather than applying external pressure, and why this leads to more consistent, long-term behaviour change. We’ll also clarify what MI is not, including common misconceptions around it being a script, a set of techniques, or a way of manipulating behaviour.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll have a clear understanding of how MI works in real coaching and rehabilitation settings, and why guiding conversations is often more effective than simply giving better advice.

In this lesson, we’ll explore the underlying mindset that makes motivational interviewing effective - known as the “spirit” of MI. This includes key principles such as partnership, acceptance, compassion and evocation, and how these shape the way you show up in conversations with clients, athletes and patients.

Rather than focusing on what to say, this lesson focuses on how to be in the conversation. You’ll learn why MI is not just about using the right questions, but about creating an environment where people feel understood, safe to be honest, and able to explore their own motivations and concerns.

By understanding the spirit of MI, you’ll be able to move away from the “expert with answers” model and toward a more collaborative, client-centred approach that improves trust, engagement and behaviour change.

In this lesson, you’ll learn what the “righting reflex” is and why it commonly shows up in coaching and rehabilitation conversations. We’ll explore the natural urge to fix problems, give advice and correct clients quickly, and how this can unintentionally create resistance, even when your intentions are good.

You’ll see how jumping in with solutions too early can cause clients to defend their current behaviour or focus more on why change won’t work. Instead, this lesson will show you how to pause, stay curious, and explore what’s actually getting in the way before offering guidance.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to recognise when the righting reflex is showing up in your own conversations and use simple strategies to slow down, understand the real barrier, and guide more effective behaviour change.

In this lesson, you’ll explore the shift from an authority-led approach to a more collaborative style of coaching and rehabilitation. While expertise is important, we’ll look at why simply telling clients what to do doesn’t always lead to follow-through, and how involving them in the process improves ownership and adherence.

You’ll learn how to balance your clinical or coaching knowledge with the client’s lived experience, including their routines, fears and what feels realistic in their day-to-day life. This lesson focuses on practical ways to turn instructions into shared decisions, without losing structure or direction.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand how collaboration builds trust, reduces passive agreement, and leads to more meaningful engagement with the plan.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to support client autonomy while still guiding safe and effective progress. We’ll explore why people are more likely to follow through with actions they feel they have chosen, rather than those that feel imposed on them.

You’ll see how to create “choice within boundaries”, allowing clients to have input into their plan without compromising clinical reasoning or progression. This includes offering meaningful options, involving them in decision-making, and respecting their readiness to move forward.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to structure conversations that increase ownership, confidence and long-term consistency, while still maintaining clear direction in coaching and rehabilitation settings.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use open questions to create more meaningful and productive conversations in coaching and rehabilitation settings. Rather than relying on yes/no questions that limit responses, you’ll explore how to ask questions that encourage clients to reflect, explain and share what’s really going on.

We’ll look at practical examples you can use immediately, helping you uncover the reasons behind behaviour, including barriers like fear, low confidence, routine breakdowns and uncertainty. You’ll see how small changes in wording can lead to much richer insight and a clearer understanding of what is driving or limiting progress.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to confidently replace common closed questions with open, curiosity-driven ones that improve communication, build trust and support more effective behaviour change.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to move beyond common yes/no questions that often limit conversations and miss the bigger picture. While these questions can be useful for quick checks, they rarely uncover the reasons behind behaviour, which is where the most valuable insight sits.

We’ll focus on practical ways to rephrase everyday questions used in coaching and rehabilitation, so they invite reflection rather than simple confirmation. You’ll see how small shifts in wording can reveal patterns, barriers, confidence levels and decision-making processes that would otherwise stay hidden.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to turn routine check-ins into more meaningful conversations that generate useful information, reduce defensiveness and help guide more effective next steps.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use affirmations in a way that feels genuine, specific and useful, rather than forced or overly positive. We’ll explore the difference between generic praise and meaningful affirmations that highlight effort, resilience, honesty and progress.

You’ll see how affirmations can help build confidence and self-efficacy by reinforcing what the client is already doing well, even in small ways. This is especially important in rehabilitation and behaviour change, where progress is rarely linear and confidence can fluctuate.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to recognise opportunities to affirm naturally within conversation, helping clients feel seen, capable and more motivated to continue.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use reflective listening to deepen your conversations and better understand what sits beneath a client’s words. Rather than simply hearing information, you’ll begin to identify the meaning, emotion and beliefs driving behaviour.

We’ll explore how to reflect back what you’re hearing in a way that feels natural and conversational, helping clients feel understood and encouraging them to expand on their thoughts. This often leads to clearer insight around barriers such as fear, low confidence and uncertainty.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to use reflection to guide conversations more effectively, uncover key issues more quickly, and create a stronger sense of trust and engagement.

In this lesson, you’ll learn why reflective listening doesn’t need to be perfect to be effective, and how “getting it wrong” can actually improve the quality of a conversation. We’ll explore how offering a possible meaning, even if it’s slightly off, encourages clients to clarify and expand their thinking.

You’ll see how this removes pressure from trying to say the perfect thing, and instead allows you to use reflections as working hypotheses that help guide the conversation forward. Client corrections often reveal deeper insights that may not have surfaced otherwise.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll feel more confident using reflective listening in real time, knowing that even imperfect reflections can lead to more meaningful understanding and progress.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use summary statements to bring structure and clarity to your conversations. Rather than repeating everything that’s been said, summaries help highlight what matters most, including key barriers, motivations and patterns.

We’ll explore how effective summaries can help clients organise their thoughts, recognise their own reasons for change, and see the bigger picture more clearly. This is particularly useful when conversations feel scattered or emotionally complex.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to use summaries to guide conversations toward action, helping clients move from insight into clear, realistic next steps.