Ep 79 – MI & Health Coaching

Talking To Change - A Motivational Interviewing Podcast

Ep 79 – MI & Health Coaching

May 19, 2024

MI and Health Coaching

Glenn and Sebastian were joined by Amanda Gabarda, EdD and Susan Butterworth, PhD to discuss health coaching and Motivational Interviewing. Dr. Gabarda is currently the Senior Director of Clinical Training & Development at UPMC Health Plan where she is responsible for designing, scaling, and evaluating evidence-based training, quality assurance, and health behavior change interventions for digital, telephonic, and in-person health coaching and care management. Dr. Gabarda is passionate about combining coaching and behavior change science to empower individuals to live their best and healthiest lives. She has a Bachelor and Master of Science in Exercise Science, a Master of Public Health, and a Doctorate of Education. She is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and a Certified Health Education Specialist.

MI & Health Coaching

Dr. Susan Butterworth is currently an Associate Professor at the Center for Health System Improvement at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Director of Patient Engagement for the Tennessee Heart Health Network. Susan is also the founder of Q-consult, LLC which provides consulting and training services to large organizations to improve patient engagement and patient-centered care. Her clinical background is exercise physiology and she received her doctoral degree in adult education and training with a cognate in health promotion from Virginia Commonwealth University. Susan specializes in the application of motivational interviewing-based health coaching interventions in healthcare and is well-published in this area. In addition, she has been awarded or served on multiple grants to assess the impact of health coaching interventions in healthcare organizations including health plans, hospitals, and clinics. She has been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Networking of Trainers (MINT) since 2002.

Episode Index:

0:00 – Opening and episode preview

5:33 – Amanda and Susan’s introduction and early MI stories

11:30 – How MI changed the delivery of health coaching

16:00 – The psychology of lifestyle change

23:00 – What has been the response to MI from clients and organizations

30:00 – Coaching as a “vehicle for learning and growing and transforming”

36:30 – Coaching as a brief intervention

42:45 – How does a health coach fit into the healthcare system

49:55 – What is the experience of being a health coach

58:00 – Research on MI and health coaching

1:05:30 – Amanda and Susan learning about artificial intelligence