Why Cyclogram is Bullish on Motivational Interviewing

Cyclogram recently hired Lochlan McHale. Some of you may remember him from Larkin Street Stories. He's behind the camera now (more often, in front of a computer screen) as part of Cyclogram's Content Team. We decided to bring Lochlan on largely due to his expertise to Motivational Interviewing and his interest in Linguistics.

Motivational interviewing is a form of collaborative conversation for strengthening a person's own motivation and commitment to change. It’s person-centered and designed to strengthen an individual's motivation for and movement toward a specific goal.

To those of you who have worked with Cyclogram previously, this may seem like an odd hire. Cyclogram focuses on applying technology, entertainment media, and design to policy and academia. How does motivational interviewing fit in with that?

Many of Cyclogram’s current and upcoming projects relate to professional development, training, data collection, and personal risk reduction. At a very basic level, Cyclogram’s work is about personal change and improvement—whether that change is personal or professional.

In our work, Cyclogram concentrates on being end user-centered, which is consistent with MI’s person-centered philosophy. While it’s impossible to implement motivational interviewing with scientific fidelity using our typical delivery tools, we intend to apply its spirit to help individuals change behavior and professionals improve performance.

Keep an eye out for new project announcements in the coming months with the spirit of motivational interviewing tucked in where you might least expect to find it.