Two UHC specialists earn MINT certification

By Jason Diggs, UHC Marketing GA

UHC specialists Tia Mann (left) and Paige Hawkins received prestigious MINT certification

University Health Center Assistant Director of Substance Abuse Prevention Tia Mann and UHC Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Paige Hawkins received a certification from the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). The certification recognizes excellence in motivational interviewing, a technique used to facilitate early-intervention programs for students.

"Motivational Interviewing is one of the only NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) tier-one strategies with college students—which means that it is effective specifically with college students," Mann offered. It is a client-centered technique that encourages the client to want to change their behavior and seek help.

The MINT certification is a rigorous application process. It requires all applicants to attend a workshop called Training for New Trainers, which must be completed before entry to the annual MINT conference. Only 120 applicants are accepted each year.

The certification process is a way to ensure that the facilitators who have earned it are competent and consistent in keeping with the original counseling theory, background, and research of the original founders of motivation interviewing.

"Tia and Paige have raised the level of support that the University Health Center provides JMU students by completing the very rigorous and prestigious MINT certification. It really validates the level of expertise Tia and Paige have in early-intervention technique," said UHC Associate Director of Health Education, Advocacy, and Prevention Amy Sirocky-Meck.

Hawkins and Mann hope to use their MINT certification in conjunction with Screening and Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), to promote motivational interview training for the clinical providers in the health center.

Hawkins explains: "The motivational interviewing technique is a counseling style that is used to elicit that motivation to change from a student. It is not offering advice. It is not directing or guiding a student in a way that I feel that they should go; it’s eliciting that change from within."

Mann and Hawkins are hoping to attend their final training next fall, but have been working on their technique for the past several years for substance abuse prevention. They are both looking to engage other faculty on campus and encourage them to use the technique for other programs.