Teaching Motivational Interviewing Skills to Psychiatry Trainees: Findings of a National Survey.

OBJECTIVE

The authors report on the current status of motivational interviewing education and training director attitudes about providing it to psychiatry residents.

METHODS

Training directors of general, child/adolescent and addiction psychiatry training programs were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey.

RESULTS

Of the 333 training directors who were invited to participate, 66 of 168 (39.3%) general, 41 of 121 (33.9%) child/adolescent, and 19 of 44 (43.2%) addiction psychiatry training directors completed the survey. The authors found that 90.9% of general, 80.5% of child/adolescent, and 100% of addiction psychiatry training programs provided motivational interviewing education. Most programs used multiple educational opportunities; the three most common opportunities were didactics, clinical practice with formal supervision, and self-directed reading. Most training directors believed that motivational interviewing was an important skill for general psychiatrists. The authors also found that 83.3% of general, 87.8% of child/adolescent, and 94.7% of addiction psychiatry training directors reported that motivational interviewing should be taught during general psychiatry residency.

CONCLUSIONS

Motivational interviewing skills are considered important for general psychiatrists and widely offered by training programs. Competency in motivational interviewing skills should be considered as a graduation requirement in general psychiatry training programs.