Paul is a registered social worker with extensive clinical and training experience in the application of M.I. to addictions and mental health counselling, concurrent disorders, social work practice, psychological disorders, health-care and to a large variety of mandated and “resistant” populations. Paul is a certified trainer with the international “MINT” organization (Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers). He is also a member of a special interest working group within MINT devoted to furthering the use of Motivational Interviewing with survivors of intimate partner violence. For the past sixteen years Paul has specialized exclusively in the delivery of M.I. training for a wide variety of helping professionals across Canada. To date, he has facilitated high-caliber training for more than 8,000 learners of the MI approach, including for psychologists, physicians, mental health and addictions counsellors, nurses, rehab practitioners, and others who specialize in direct-client care. Literally, Paul has trained “coast-to-coast-to coast” in Canada and is highly regarded for his excellent skills and entertaining approach to adult education. Paul has been selected three times by the international MINT organization to act as a trainer for their international training-for-trainers program in Canada, England and in the United States.
In the 22 years preceding his move to full-time MI instruction, Paul had a 22 year career in the field of mental health and addictions. In that capacity, he provided treatment and program design services for a variety of clients experiencing addictions and concurrent disorders. He was clinical supervisor in a long-term in-patient adolescent treatment program in Alberta and was counselling supervisor in a major adult in-patient rehabilitation program for several years. Paul was also a trainer and training coordinator in the addictions field prior to before leaving government in 2002 to form his own private training and consulting practice.
Paul well known for his passion for MI and for teaching. His creative and entertaining approaches to teaching have earned him an excellent reputation as an “outside-the-box thinker” when it comes to finding ways to help people adopt the helping paradigm that drives the MI approach to activating or enhancing motivation.