About Us
A Better Listener helps students make a positive impact in their lives through Motivational Interviewing.
WHO WE ARE
Hello! Meet Kay Eibl
Kay Eibl is passionate about helping clients work toward positive behavior change. Over the last decade Kay has counseled individuals in both private and public settings. As a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), she is passionate about training professionals to fine-tune conversational practices and help students move toward increased motivation and behavior change.
“It can be tricky to find progress when we’re stressed, when we feel like ‘I just need them to do what I want.’ I’ve found people are wonderful listeners when they’re calm, when they feel centered, and when understand conversational methods that work – specifically motivational interviewing.” - Kay
WHAT WE DO
Helping Create Change for the Better
A Better Listener specializes in teaching Motivational interviewing: A conversational technique, rooted in effective listening, that changes behaviors positively.
Enhance Academic Performance
Increase Internal
Motivation for Change
Support Student
Wellness Programs
Support Positive
Behavior Changes
Build Self Belief
& Confidence
Improve Authentic
Communication
Positively impacting schools.
When teachers and school staff are able to listen well and show more empathy to their students each day, especially in difficult conversations, the result is less burnout for faculty/staff, and students who feel empowered to reach their potential. Oh, and the benefits extend to communication with parents as well!
Improving business communication.
Around the globe, supervisors are using Motivational Interviewing to help support their supervisees and employees more effectively. Learning specific MI skills allows leaders to see immediate results with employee engagement, moving change forward, and navigating difficult conversations.
Promoting self development
& leadership.
Have more effective conversations with your employees around personal growth, self-development, and leadership goals. Use MI to support your employees in developing their full potential.
WHAT WE TEACH
What is Motivational Interviewing?
“MI is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.”
- Miller & Rollnick
The most current version of Motivational Interviewing is described in detail in Miller and Rollnick Motivational Interviewing (2023): Helping People Change and Grow (4th edition).
Key Qualities Include:
MI is a guiding style of communication, that sits between following (good listening) and directing (giving information and advice).
MI is designed to empower people to change by drawing out their own meaning, importance and capacity for change.
MI is based on a respectful and curious way of being with people that facilitates the natural process of change and honors client autonomy.
“Motivational Interviewing requires the clinician (Kay Eibl) to engage with the client as an equal partner and refrain from unsolicited advice, confronting, instructing, directing, or warning. It is not a way to “get people to change” or a set of techniques to impose on the conversation. MI takes time, practice and requires self-awareness and discipline from the clinician.” - Miller & Rollnick
Motivational Interviewing is useful to help people examine their situation and options when any of the following are present:
Ambivalence is high and people are stuck in mixed feelings about change
Confidence is low and people doubt their abilities to change
Desire is low and people are uncertain about whether they want to make a change
Importance is low and the benefits of change and disadvantages of the current situation are unclear.
Not sure if Motivational Interviewing is for you? Contact us for a Free Consultation!
THE PRINCIPLES
Core Elements of Motivational Interviewing
MI has four fundamental processes, which describe the “flow” of the conversation although we may move back and forth among processes as needed:
Engaging: This is the foundation of MI. The goal is to establish a productive working relationship through careful listening to understand and accurately reflect the person’s experience and perspective while affirming strengths and supporting autonomy.
Focusing: In this process an agenda is negotiated that draws on both the client and practitioner expertise to agree on a shared purpose, which gives the clinician permission to move into a directional conversation about change.
Evoking: In this process the clinician gently explores and helps the person to build their own “why” of change through eliciting the client’s ideas and motivations. Ambivalence is normalized, explored without judgement and, as a result, may be resolved. This process requires skillful attention to the person’s talk about change.
Planning: Planning explores the “how” of change where the MI practitioner supports the person to consolidate commitment to change and develop a plan based on the person’s own insights and expertise. This process is optional and may not be required, but if it is the timing and readiness of the client for planning is important.
“The best motivation for positive and lasting change, is located within the individual. Motivational interviewing is the key that helps unlock real change.” - Kay Eibl
Motivational Interviewing is practiced with an underlying spirit or way of being with people:
Partnership. MI is a collaborative process. The MI practitioner is an expert in helping people change; people are the experts of their own lives.
Empowerment. People have within themselves resources and skills needed for change. MI draws out the person’s priorities, values, and wisdom to explore reasons for change and support success.
Acceptance. The MI practitioner takes a nonjudgmental stance, seeks to understand the person’s perspectives and experiences, expresses empathy, highlights strengths, and respects a person’s right to make informed choices about changing or not changing.
Compassion. The MI practitioner actively promotes and prioritizes clients’ welfare and wellbeing in a selfless manner.
The Core Skills of Motivational Interviewing are: OARS, Attending to the Language of Change and the Artful Exchange of Information. Descriptions below:
Open questions draw out and explore the person’s experiences, perspectives, and ideas. Evocative questions guide the client to reflect on how change may be meaningful or possible. Information is often offered within a structure of open questions (Elicit-Provide-Elicit) that first explores what the person already knows, then seeks permission to offer what the practitioner knows and then explores the person’s response.
Affirmation of strengths, efforts, and past successes help to build the person’s hope and confidence in their ability to change.
Reflections are based on careful listening and trying to understand what the person is saying, by repeating, rephrasing or offering a deeper guess about what the person is trying to communicate. This is a foundational skill of MI and how we express empathy.
Summarizing ensures shared understanding and reinforces key points made by the client.
Attending to the language of change identifies what is being said against change (sustain talk) and in favor of change (change talk) and, where appropriate, encouraging a movement away from sustain talk toward change talk.
Exchange of information respects that both the clinician and client have expertise. Sharing information is considered a two way street and needs to be responsive to what the client is saying.
CREATE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
Who We Work With
A Better Listener teaches Motivational Interviewing to wide variety of people because the techniques can help almost anyone.
-
We serve dozens of non-profit organizations every year, helping their staff access quality professional development at a great value. Organizations we have served include social work agencies, counseling centers, hospitals and clinics, women’s shelters, and churches.
A Better Listener has provided trainings for:
- Allendale Association
- Prevent Suicide Greater Milwaukee
- Employment Resources Inc
- Work Incentives Benefits Specialists Inc.
- Bethany Christian Services -
We are happy to work with your large or small business to bring quality training to you and your team. We provide customer service training for your front-end staff, as well as in-depth listening skills training for your team members working with clients. We have provided training to career coaching and job placement agencies, vocational rehabilitation service centers, and medical clinics.
A Better Listener has provided trainings for:
- SSM Health
- Aurora Healthcare
- Unity Point Health
- Compass Health Center (Illinois) -
We love training school staff on Motivational Interviewing skills and would be happy to bring training to your school. Teachers, school social workers, school counselors, and para-professionals can all benefit from learning better and more effective ways to communicate with students, parents, and families to boost their motivation and to help them make lasting behavior change. Build on your staff’s existing skills to help them become the most effective listeners they can be.
A Better Listener has provided trainings for:
- Wisconsin School Counselors Association
- UW Eau Claire (Continuing Education)
- Waukesha County Technical College
- Pathrise -
Individual Coaching is available for those who want to take their Motivational Interviewing (M.I.) training to the next level.
HOW WE TEACH
Types of Classes
Group Workshops
Group training workshops are provided in an interactive format, using lecture, observation, discussion, and interactive exercises to communicate concepts and practice skills.
Indivdual Training
Through the effectiveness of personalized feedback and coaching, this option is one of the best ways to reach proficiency with MI and take skills to the next level.
Seminar & Events
Kay Eibl is available for speaking engagements. Kay’s talks cover Motivational Interviewing techniques, they also inspire positive change within people and organizations.
CONNECT. MOTIVATE. CHANGE.
Ready to Learn?
Contact us to discuss training for you or your organization. Consultations are free!
