Objectives

1. Identify the three stages of adolescent growth and development and describe their relevance when having conversations guided by Motivational Interviewing (MI)

2. State 4 things to avoid doing when talking with adolescents and young adults (AYAs)

3. Describe developmental adaptations for using Motivational Interviewing (MI) with youth and families with a focus on: a. the 3 guiding elements of MI spirit b. the 4 fundamental tasks in MI c. the 4 micro-skills of Open questions, Affirmation, Reflections, and Summaries (OARS) d. Offering and sharing information and advice e. Behavior change planning

This virtual program will be hosted on ZOOM.

Introducing Our Speaker

Melanie A. Gold, DO, DMQ, DABMA

Pediatrician and Adolescent Medicine Sub-specialist

Dr. Melanie A. Gold is an osteopathic physician, a pediatrician, and a board-certified adolescent medicine sub-specialist. She completed a 3-year doctorate in Medical Qi Gong in 2017 and has studied Ayurvedic Medicine and Transcendental Meditation. Dr. Gold is currently a Special Lecturer and former Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child and Adolescent Health, Section of Adolescent Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center as well as a current Special Lecturer and former Professor in the Department of Population & Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health. She was the Medical Director of New York Presbyterian or NYP’s seven School Based Health Centers (SBHCs) from 2014 to 2022. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Medical Acupuncture since 2014 and served as a board member of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture and on their membership committee from 2015-2017. Dr. Gold served as an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Section on Integrative Medicine for the American Academy of Pediatrics from 2015 to 2018. She is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network Trainers (MINT). Dr. Gold is the recipient of the 2024 Pioneer in Integrative Medicine Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Integrative Medicine. Over the past three decades, Dr. Gold has incorporated numerous integrative medicine modalities into her own clinical practice including Motivational Interviewing, osteopathic manipulation, medical hypnosis, Reiki, medical acupuncture, acupressure, Qigong, mindfulness, yoga, aromatherapy, aroma-acupoint therapy, and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Tapping. Dr. Gold expanded pediatric integrative medicine at NYC School Based Health Centers (SBHC) by training their staff to offer many of these modalities. Dr. Gold was a co-investigator on a NIH-funded study whose aim was to develop and test, in a randomized controlled trial, the efficacy of a mind-body integrative health sleep intervention to improve sleep quality among adolescent SBHC patients. Most recently, Dr. Gold has turned her focus to teaching and evaluating the training of health care professionals in the use of integrative therapies for their own self care and to enhance their credibility and effectiveness in teaching patients and patients’ families these same techniques for symptom management.

Empowering Change, One Conversation at a Time.

Our goal is to build community and create connections all over the world by providing various virtual workshops with topics linked to Motivational Interviewing.