​Recently I started a new position at a local university as an Applied Learning Facilitator in the Office of Field Education for graduate level social work students. Naturally as a Motivational Interviewing (MI) enthusiast, I immediately looked for ways to incorporate my MI passion into my new job. One of my primary roles in this position is to act as a field advisor to practicum students, and I believe that MI could fit quite naturally in the 30 minute advising appointments that I have with students. I believe that by utilizing some MI skills and the MI spirit, an advisor such as myself can be more student-centered and more effective in helping students in their professional growth and development. What follows is a review of some literature written on using MI in advising-type roles, and toward the end of this article I have included some of my thoughts on how I and other advisors might use MI in the advising appointment.

Agenda setting is an important part of the one-on-one supervison meeting. Agenda setting is "a short focusing metaconversation in which you step back with the client to choose a direction from among several options" (Miller and Rollnick, 213). When used in a one-on-one supervison meeting (referred to in this article simply as "supervision"), this term refers to a collaborative conversation between the supervisor and the supervisee about what supervision topics are important to talk about. Ideally this conversation ends with a prioritized list of topics for supervison that is agreed to by both the supervisor and supervisee. 

As an MI enthusiast, I am always seeking opportunities to practice OARS skills. As a supervisor of 8 clinicians, the primary way that I interact with individuals one-on-one is during supervision, so it naturally fits that I have taken advantage of this time to practice the use of OARS. At first this practice was clumsy and awkward, and after about 6 months of practicing this 8 times weekly, it continues to be challenging yet rewarding.  I find that when I am able to use OARS with staff, it helps them to develop their inner locus of control, builds their perceived self efficacy and helps to strengthen the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. I have found that using OARS with staff is the most efficient way of communicating information and the use of these skills yields better results from the supervision conversation.