1.00 CE Credits Available
Motivational Interviewing for Concurrent Disorders
by Wayne Skinner and Clive Chamberlain
What is Motivational Interviewing, and how does it apply to co-occurring conditions? In this video, Wayne Skinner and Clive Chamberlain demonstrate key techniques for supporting clients with concurrent mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Co-occurring conditions require a unique set of treatment strategies—and education on this deceptively common phenomenon is incomplete, particularly for concurrent addiction and mental health issues. For our work to be effective, we must pay attention not only to the particulars of each issue on its own, but also to the ways in which each influences the other, along with a client’s subjective experience of them. In this video, Wayne Skinner, MSW, and Clive Chamberlain, MD, demystify such cases through the lens of Motivational Interviewing. Here, the two Toronto-based clinicians outline MI’s core tenets and techniques and, in a set of charged vignettes, demonstrate how to integrate them into treatment for depression and painkiller dependence.

MI is known for its longstanding application to a range of addiction issues, but here Skinner and Chamberlain bring special attention to the lesser known prevalence of substance use and mental health problems in combination. Working with Bert, a distressed male client whose addiction puts his marriage and child custody at risk, which in turn fuels his depression, the two MI experts illustrate how to build therapeutic rapport, get to the heart of Bert’s desire to raise his kids, and leverage it to resolve his ambivalence toward change.

With a focus on MI’s organizing philosophies, the clinicians cover the method’s guiding principles, key techniques, and ways to use them to engage clients. Noting that having one disorder greatly increases the chances of having the other, they detail MI’s biopsychosocial and dimensional models as a holistic basis for directive yet client-centered interventions. With an emphasis on positive alliance, “rolling with resistance,” and building “change talk,” Skinner and Chamberlain help Bert move from hopelessness to agency, with tangible results.

This video is essential for anyone seeking an MI primer or effective strategies for working with concurrent disorders. You won’t want to miss this one.

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Motivational Interviewing has a long history of application to various addiction issues, but less is understood about its application to mental health disorders, particularly as they co-occur with substance use. In this educational video, Wayne Skinner, MSW, and Clive Chamberlain, MD, present a didactic overview of MI’s core tenets and techniques alongside live demonstrations of their use in a series of case vignettes with Bert, a male client in domestic crisis.

The clinicians begin by covering the method’s four guiding principles, along with providing insightful statistics on the prevalence of concurrent disorders. Affirming that concurrent cases aren’t as marginal as we tend to think, they go on to present key MI techniques to build an alliance with and engage Bert, who presents as angry, withdrawn, and ambivalent though desperate to see his kids. While emphasizing a positive therapeutic alliance, “rolling with resistance,” and building “change talk,” Skinner and Chamberlain illustrate the goals of MI and help Bert make tangible progress.

With its rich set of takeaways, this video offers both theory and practical tools to support your work with clients suffering from the debilitating effects of concurrent disorders. If you’re in search of solid resources on MI, addiction, or depression, be sure to add this video to your library.

By watching this video, you will:
  • Understand the theoretical foundations of MI, including its guiding principles and spirit of the method.
  • Learn how to support clients struggling with concurrent addiction and mental health issues, including when to consult.
  • Discover ways to incorporate empathic reflection, developing discrepancies, and change talk into your client work.

Length of video: 1:01:04

English subtitles available

Group ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-518-2

Wayne Skinner, MSW, RSW, is Deputy Clinical Director in the Ambulatory & Structured Treatment Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. An Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, he is Associate Editor (Canada) for the journal Mental Health & Substance Abuse and a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).

Clive Chamberlain, MD, FRCPC, is a Senior Psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He works with children, adolescents, and their parents and is an authority on youth who kill and societal attitudes toward youth. He has held leadership positions in several institutions including Clarke Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, and Hinks-Delcrest Centre.


Wayne Skinner and Clive Chamberlain was compensated for his/her/their contribution. None of his/her/their books or additional offerings are required for any of the Psychotherapy.net content. Should such materials be references, it is as an additional resource.

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Additionally, there is no commercial support for this activity. None of the planners or any employee at Psychotherapy.net who has worked on this educational activity has relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies.

CE credits: 1

Learning Objectives:

  • Discuss the theoretical foundations of MI
  • Learn how to support clients struggling with concurrent addiction and mental health issues
  • Apply core MI techniques including change talk to your clinical work

Bibliography available upon request

This course is offered for ASWB ACE credit for social workers. See complete list of CE approvals here

© 2013

Course Reviewed January 2024

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