Improv-ing Your Motivational Interviewing Skills

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Logo for ASAM's 54th Annual Conference

Improv-ing Your Motivational Interviewing Skills

Recorded: Thursday, April 13, 2023 to Sunday, April 16, 2023
On-Demand Session

Overview

This 75-minute on-demand session from the ASAM 54th Annual Conference addresses improv exercises to practice the three core MI skills of simple reflections, complex reflections, and summary statements.

Improvisational (improv) theater is a live performance made up on the spot. Medical improv is the adaptation and application of improv principles exercises to improve communication within health professions. This workshop will use improv exercises to practice the three core MI skills of simple reflections, complex reflections, and summary statements. This will be a fun, highly engaging, and interactive session. All individuals will participate in low-pressure improv exercises.

The target audience for this introductory level session includes physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, other clinicians, researchers, residents, fellows, students, and counselors.

This session addresses the following ACGME Competencies: Medical Knowledge, Interpersonal and Communication Skills

This session addresses the following IOM Competencies:Provide patient-centered care, Employ evidence-based practice

Learning Objectives

Upon completion, learners will be able to:

  1. Describe how improvisational (improv) theater principles can be applied to the practice of motivational interviewing (MI).
  2. Practice four improv exercises to workshop the following MI skills: simple reflections, complex reflections, summary statements, and applying the spirit of MI.
  3. Reflect on strategies to integrate core MI skills into each participant's practice when caring for individuals with substance use disorders.

Registration Rates

Rate DescriptionRate
ASAM Member$29
Non-Member$39
Associate Member$19
Resident Member*$19
Student Member*$19

*Residents, Fellows-in-training, Interns, and Students must join ASAM to receive a discounted registration rate. Click here to become an ASAM member. National and Chapter membership dues apply. There is no charge for Students to become a Member, but verification of student status is required.

Membership Question?  Call ASAM at 1.301.656.3920, email us, or view the ASAM website for more information.

Refunds & Cancellations

All ASAM e-Learning Center refund requests must be made in writing to education@asam.org within 90 days of purchase. Those requesting refunds for courses that are in progress will receive partial refunds or e-Learning Center credit. Automatic full refunds will be made for any course with a live-course component that has been cancelled.

Registration Deadline: 05/15/2026

Session Instructions

  1. Click on the Contents tab to watch the on-demand recording.
  2. Click Complete Post Test to answer multiple choice questions. Participants will have 10 attempts to pass and must answer 4 out of 5 questions correctly.
  3. Click Complete Evaluation to provide valuable activity feedback. Scroll down on all questions as there may be answer options that expand past the size of the window.
  4. Click the button Claim Medical Credits in the box titled Claim Credits & Certificate. Choose the type of credit and click submit. Click the button View/Print Certificate to save or print your certificate. You can view/print your certificate at any time by visiting the ASAM eLearning Center, clicking Dashboard, and clicking Transcript/Achievements.

Need Assistance?

For assistance logging in, accessing activities, claiming credit, or for other questions or concerns, please check the FAQ page or e-mail Education@ASAM.org

ASAM is proud to offer Essential Accessibility to ensure our website is accessible and functional for all our learners while providing free assistive technology for people with the widest possible range of abilities.

Carolyn Chan, MD

GIM Medical Education Fellow

Yale School of Medicine

Carolyn Chan, MD is currently a Yale General Internal Medicine Medical Education Fellow and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She is a clinician educator interested in substance use disorder, harm reduction, and communication education. She has 9 years of experience as an improviser and develops improv theater curricula for various medical education topics, such as motivational interviewing. In addition, she is the co-host of the Curbsiders Addiction Medicine Podcast.

Katherine Mullins, MD, AAHIVS

Assistant Director of Addiction Medicine / Clinical Assistant Professor

Family Health Centers / NYU Langone

Katherine Mullins MD, AAHIVS currently works as the Assistant Director of Addiction Medicine for the Family Health Centers, a network of FQHCs within NYU Langone, and as a Clinical Assistant Professor for the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. After earning her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine, she completed her Primary Care/Social Internal Medicine Residency and Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center. She is passionate about integrating harm reduction principles into medical education and developing primary care systems that support people who use drugs or have substance use disorders.

Melissa B. Weimer

DO, MCR, FASAM

Melissa Weimer is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health and Associate Program Director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Yale University. She is an expert in hospital-based care for patients with substance use disorders and has worked with colleagues to develop successful hospital-based Addiction Medicine Consult Services at both Oregon Health & Science University and Yale University/Yale New Haven Hospital. Dr. Weimer is also a national leader in Addiction Medicine education and has developed curricula for substance use disorder evaluation and treatment and safe and effective pain treatment. Dr. Weimer serves on the national board of ASAM and is the Chair of the ASAM Clinical Practice Guidelines Methodology and Oversight Committee.

No relevant financial disclosures.

Kenneth Morford

MD

Kenneth L. Morford, MD, FASAM is an Assistant Professor and clinician educator at Yale School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and completed internal medicine training in the Yale Primary Care Residency Program.
He then graduated from the Yale Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program and now serves as an associate program director. He also directs a HRSA-funded interprofessional addiction training program, called CHAMP. He provides primary care and addiction treatment at a community-based opioid treatment program and cares for patients on the hospital-based Yale Addiction Medicine Consult Service. He is passionate about medical education, interprofessional collaboration, substance use disorders research, and integrating addiction medicine into primary care.

CME, CE, CEU and Other Credit Types


ACCME Accredited with Commendation

ACCME Accreditation Statement
The American Society of Addiction Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Society of Addiction Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals
This activity has been approved by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #295, ASAM is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

California Association for Drug/Alcohol Educators (CAADE)
This educational program is approved by CAADE: #CP40 999 1225.

California Association of DUI Treatment Centers (CADTP)
This educational program is approved by CADTP: #205.

California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP)
This educational program is approved by CCAPP: #OS-20-330-1224.

Continuing Education Credits (CEUs)
Non-physician participants will receive a certificate of attendance upon completion of the activity and an online evaluation confirming their participation. Participants should submit his/her certificate of attendance to their professional organization/institute.

Maintenance of Certification / Continuing Certification Program


American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM)
The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) has approved this activity for 1.25 credits towards ABPM MOC Part II requirements.

American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA)
This activity contributes to the CME component of the American Board of Anesthesiology’s redesigned Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology TM (MOCA®) program, known as MOCA 2.0®.

American Board of Pediatrics (ABP)
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the activity, with individual assessments of the participant and feedback to the participant, enables the participant to earn 1.25 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABP MOC credit.

American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn 1.25 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credits.

American Board of Surgery (ABS)
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME and/or Self-Assessment requirements of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABS credit.

American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN)
Successful completion of this CME activity can be used to satisfy the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s (ABPN) CME requirement for Maintenance of Certification program.

American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM)
Successful completion of this activity can be used to satisfy the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) for Tmoc as credits towards ABAM LLSA Part II requirements.

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC)
Royal College Fellows can use participation in Accredited Continuing Medical Education to earn Section 3 Credits.

Disclosure Information


In accordance with disclosure policies of ASAM and the ACCME, the effort is made to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all CME/CE activities. These policies include mitigating all possible relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies for the Planning Committees and Presenters. All activity Planning Committee members and Presenters have disclosed relevant financial relationship information. The ASAM CE Committee has reviewed these disclosures and determined that the relationships are not inappropriate in the context of their respective presentations and are not inconsistent with the educational goals and integrity of the activity.

Key:

Complete
Failed
Available
Locked
View On-Demand Recording
Open to view video.  |   Closed captions available
Open to view video.  |   Closed captions available Video is approximately 75 minutes long. Recorded between 04/13/23 - 04/16/23.
Complete Post Test
5 Questions  |  10 attempts  |  4/5 points to pass
5 Questions  |  10 attempts  |  4/5 points to pass This post-test has 5 questions and requires 4 out of 5 to pass the quiz.
Complete Evaluation
19 Questions
19 Questions Scroll down on evaluation, there may be questions that expand past the size of the window.
Claim Credits & Certificate
Up to 1.25 medical credits available  |  Certificate available
Up to 1.25 medical credits available  |  Certificate available Participants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.