Expert-guided virtual coaching
Learn from a virtual MI coach who provides instant feedback, demonstrates real techniques through worked examples, and guides you step-by-step through every interaction.
Deliberate practice design
Built on proven Deliberate Practice learning theory, VMI's structured approach ensures you don't just learn skills—you master them through scaffolded learning and immediate expert feedback.
Risk-free skill building
Practice and make mistakes in a safe virtual environment before applying techniques with real clients and families.
Always Available
Access expert-level training on your phone, available whenever and wherever you need it.
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Foundational & engagement skills
Small Talk: Building rapport through casual conversation. Partnering Language: Using “we,” “us,” “together” to emphasize collaboration. Normalize and Empathize: Communicating understanding and shared human experience. Emphasize Personal Choice: Highlighting client autonomy and control. -
Core MI techniques (OARS+) Open Questions: Asking questions that invite detailed responses (not yes/no). Simple Affirmations: Recognizing client efforts, strengths, or positive actions.Complex Affirmations: Affirming deeper client values or positive character traits. Simple Reflections: Repeating or slightly rephrasing the client’s statement. Complex Reflections: Reflecting the underlying meaning, feeling, or implication. Summaries: Collecting, linking, and reinforcing discussed points, especially change talk. -
Specific strategies Flipping complaints to goals: Reframing a problem statement into a positive goal. Returning focus: Gently guiding the conversation back to the agreed topic. Shifting focus: Redirecting conversation away from a barrier or unproductive area. Ask-Offer-Ask: Eliciting knowledge, offering info (with permission), asking for takeaway. Reframing: Offering a different, often more positive or constructive, perspective. -
Advanced questioning & reflection Directional Questions: Open questions guiding towards reasons for change Double Sided Reflection: Acknowledging ambivalence by reflecting both sides. Directional Reflections: Reflections that specifically emphasize previous change talk. Amplified Reflections: Reflecting a statement in a stronger form (without sarcasm).
Multiple choice questions Select all that apply exercises Matching activities Skill identification tasks Dialogue coding Free response exercises Highlighting tasks Virtual simulation stories
VMI delivers accessible, expert-informed training that helps students and professionals build engagement skills through safe, hands-on practice.
Provides social work, psychology, or related programs with a practical tool to supplement classroom learning, giving students hands-on MI practice before entering the field.
Offers a scalable and consistent method for training new hires and upskilling current staff in essential engagement techniques, enhancing their ability to connect with and support families.
Delivers standardized, expert-informed training directly to users' phones.
Allows learners to practice and make mistakes in a low-stakes environment with immediate, constructive feedback.
Download now
VMI is available for download on both iOS and Android. Access requires login credentials. For more information on implementation and obtaining user credentials, contact us.
