'A conversation with Orla Adams' - Using Motivational Interviewing to enhance conversations with our sporting children

Parents in Sport Podcast

In this episode Motivational Interviewing expert and trainer and sports parent Orla Adams joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss 'Motivational Interviewing' and how it can help us as sports parents enhance the quality of conversations and navigate some of the difficult moments we face with our young people around their sporting experience.

During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:

• 'Motivational Interviewing' and its place in sports parenting and the world of sport
• The importance of identifying strengths, skills and abilities in our young people
• Creating space for our children to share their perspectives and points of view
• How we can become more self-aware of the moments and approach we take to have the most impactful conversations
• How instilling a fear of failure, focussing on weaknesses and making comparisons may have such negative connotations
• Tips and strategies for setting up the most difficult conversations that we can't avoid with our children
• How using scaling techniques may help us communicate effectively with our children whilst encouraging self-evaluation
• The importance of being able to listen well and what does that actually mean?

Orla Adams is the Dietetic Lead for Maternal Weight Management in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and she divides her time between this and delivering Motivational Interviewing (MI) training across the UK to various disciplines.
Orla attended her first MI workshop in 2006, became a member of MINT (Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers) in 2011, and gained MINT certification as an MI Trainer in 2023. Orla is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland and lives in Cardiff with her husband and two sons.
She is a sports parent and has been finding value in how MI has been helpful in some of the more challenging conversations.