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Continuing professional development

Motivational Interviewing CPD — keep your skills current

There's no single MI certificate — and a one-off course won't keep your skills sharp. Here's how MI CPD actually works, and how deliberate practice with feedback fits alongside accredited training.

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Is there an MI certification?

There is no official certification body for motivational interviewing. MI's originators, William Miller and Stephen Rollnick, have said so directly. The Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) accredits trainers, and course providers issue certificates of completion — but MI CPD is about maintaining competence, not collecting a single qualification.

That matters because MI is a skill, not a body of knowledge — and MI skills fade within months of a course without ongoing practice. Effective CPD pairs accredited learning with deliberate practice and feedback against MI fidelity.

What counts as MI CPD

Most UK professional registers accept self-directed and reflective learning, not just classroom hours. Typical MI CPD activities include:

Accredited learning

Workshops, refreshers, and online MI courses from universities, MINT-affiliated trainers, and CPD providers.

Supervision & coding feedback

MI-focused supervision and MITI-coded session feedback — formative assessment against fidelity benchmarks.

Deliberate practice

Structured practice of realistic scenarios with feedback on OARS use, change talk, and MI Spirit — the part that sustains skill.

Reflective practice

A documented record of what you practised, what the feedback showed, and what you changed — the evidence your portfolio needs.

How the MI Practice Lab supports your CPD

The MI Practice Lab is the deliberate-practice piece of CPD. You hold voice conversations with realistic AI clients and receive structured feedback after every session — OARS-tagged playback, an MI Score, an MI Spirit breakdown, a Talk Ratio reading, and evidence quotes from your transcript. Your session history doubles as reflective CPD evidence.

To be clear about what it is: the Lab provides formative practice feedback, not an accredited qualification or a credentialing assessment. It's built to complement MI courses, supervision, and CPD requirements — keeping skills current between the courses that teach them.

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Frequently asked questions

Is there a formal motivational interviewing certification?
No. There is no official credentialing body for motivational interviewing, and MI's originators, William Miller and Stephen Rollnick, have publicly stated that MI has no certification process. The Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) accredits trainers (via its Training of New Trainers programme) but does not certify practitioners. Providers such as universities, PESI, and CPD-accredited course providers issue certificates of completion, and MITI coding is used for formative assessment — but none of these is a single recognised MI qualification.
What counts as MI CPD?
Continuing professional development in MI includes any structured, recorded learning that maintains or develops your MI competence: workshops and refreshers, MI-focused supervision, MITI-coded session feedback, reading and reflective practice, and deliberate practice with feedback. Most professional bodies in the UK (e.g. nursing, social work, counselling, and health-coaching registers) accept self-directed and reflective learning hours, not just classroom attendance — so structured practice with documented feedback can count toward CPD requirements.
How do I keep my MI skills current for CPD?
The evidence is clear that one-off courses don't sustain MI skill — proficiency fades within months without ongoing practice and feedback. To keep skills current: practise realistic scenarios regularly, get objective feedback on your OARS use and MI fidelity rather than relying on self-assessment, and keep a reflective record of what you changed. Deliberate practice between courses is what converts a certificate of attendance into sustained competence.
Does the MI Practice Lab provide a CPD certificate?
The MI Practice Lab is a deliberate-practice tool, not an accredited course, so it doesn't issue a formal CPD certificate or function as a credentialing assessment. What it does provide is structured, evidence-anchored feedback on each session (OARS coding, MI Score, MI Spirit, Talk Ratio) and a session history you can use as reflective evidence in your CPD portfolio. It's designed to complement accredited MI training and supervision, not replace them.
Is motivational interviewing training available online in the UK?
Yes. CPD-recognised MI courses are widely available in the UK, both in person and online, from universities, MINT-affiliated trainers, and CPD providers. Online MI training works well for the knowledge component; the harder part — building and maintaining skill — needs deliberate practice with feedback, which is where between-course practice tools fit in.

Related reading

Motivational Interviewing overview

What MI is, who uses it, OARS, and why deliberate practice matters.

MI skill decay

Why MI skills fade after training — and the evidence on what prevents it.

MI fidelity & MITI coding

How MI proficiency is measured and used in formative assessment.