Day 200+ 57: And It’s Fun
Bill and Steve buried the lede.
Today’s Free MI Snack - Wed May 5, 11am ET
Affirmations and Empowerment with Sara Schieffelin, LICSW
Therapist, clinical supervisor, and MI Trainer (MINT member).
NOTE: We are now using a new Zoom Room
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I’m still in the preface to the fourth edition, MI4.
This morning I caught a line I’d had not noticed before. Bill and Steve are talking about who they’re writing for: Teachers, mentors, parents, spiritual directors, supervisors, leaders, life coaches.
People in helping roles all noticed the same thing: pushing, coaxing, cajoling, persuading someone into changing usually fails.
Or backfires.
Then they say:
“Trying out the spirit and method of MI can yield observable change in how people respond, improve their outcomes, and even make work more enjoyable for practitioners and clients alike.”
I love that last part: Make work more enjoyable.
That’s a strange thing to put in the preface of a clinical text. It’s not the kind of claim that goes in grant applications or insurance reviews. There are over 100 books on particular applications of MI. There are over 1800 published studies. And tucked in the middle of all that, almost as an aside, is a sentence that says:
Doing this thing makes work nicer. More enjoyable. More fun.
Early on, many of the things I had been taught to do for clients were heavy on me. I performed expertise. I held the plan. I worried about saying the right thing. Got up to do it all again.
MI was different in a way I couldn’t quite name yet. It wasn’t that the work got easier. It was that the work stopped costing me the same way.
Can you relate? Do you remember a moment when something in your work shifted from feeling expensive to feeling generative? Even fun?
I think of the way Bill Miller smiles when he is engaging with someone. He looks like he is having fun.
A lot of helping is leaking energy. The field knows it. We talk about burnout, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue. We’ve built whole industries around pulling helpers back from the edge.
I keep thinking that line in the preface isn’t a bonus claim. It might be the actual point.
A method that depletes the helper will eventually run out of helpers. A method that gives back, even a little, gets carried forward by people who actually want to keep doing it.
Over 100 books. Thousands of studies. And under all of that, this one quiet sentence: make work more enjoyable for practitioners and clients alike.
I think that’s what keeps me coming back!
Your Turn
What’s something in your work that gives back to you, instead of taking?
When did you first notice MI (or whatever your version of it is) costing you less than it used to?
I’d love to hear.
Wishing you a more enjoyable Wednesday,
Sky
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Sky Kershner, LPC, ALPS, LCSW, DMin
Assistant Professor, WVU School of Medicine
MINT Certified Trainer of Motivational Interviewing
AAMFT Approved Supervisor / Member IEDTA / PACT L2
304-220-0088 / www.wv-mi.com / the mi-ai practice space
“Trying out the spirit and method of MI can yield observable change in how people respond, improve their outcomes, and even make work more enjoyable for practitioners and clients alike.”
I love this quote and found it interesting as well. I share it with the parents I coach and they can easily see the application to their own role in their adult child's life. Most of the parents I work with are frustrated and tired of trying tell their children what to do and how to do/fix it, and have lost the joy that comes from parenting. Much of what is shared in the preface of the current edition shows how it changes the relationship, increases motivation, and also reduces the stress and burnout of the therapist--or in my clients' case--of the parent. Sharing this gives them hope that there IS a different way and that it can actually be a more productive and satisfying way as well.
We had the same point, Sky. My eyes were drawn to the phrase, “Make work more enjoyable.” For me, that feels deeply true: work should be enjoyable and meaningful for both people involved.
Some of my friends and clients often ask why I enjoy trying so many new things—public speaking, Krav Maga, Hapkido, Escrima, dancing, volunteering, concerts, and even parties. Yes, I still enjoy parties very much, especially when they give me a chance to meet new people and learn from different perspectives. My answer is simple: the more I step outside, the more I realize how little I know—not only about the world, but also about people who live in worlds different from mine. And that is where my vision expands.
I used to believe that studying hard was the main way to gain depth of knowledge, as if I needed to understand everything through formal learning alone. Now I am learning that growth does not come from one narrow path. It also comes from lived experience—from meeting different people, entering different environments, and allowing life itself to teach me. When we only rely on one learning tool, our understanding can become limited. But when we stay open, our perception becomes richer, wider, and more human.
Everyone has a different learning journey. For me, learning itself should also feel fun, because that joy naturally carries into the way I share knowledge. When learning feels light, it becomes easier to understand, easier to remember, and easier to pass on to others.
In the end, growth is not only about knowing more. It is about staying curious, staying open, and continuing to walk into the world with a willing heart. That is where joy lives, and that is where our learning can truly begin.