As part of the “Acting Through Art” project in Georgia, Prevention for Progress and the World Federation Against Drugs (WFDA) organise Capacity Strengthening Training Seminars. The project aims to support the state agencies responsible for the primary and secondary prevention of vulnerable adolescents. Besides providing capacity-strengthening training seminars, art therapy sessions are provided to the final beneficiaries

On September 21st, the fifth online capacity-strengthening training seminar was held. It was the last online seminar in the series. During this seminar, Asia Ashraf presented the definition and strength of motivation in the process of change. She elaborated on the stages of change in the recovery pathway: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, [and relapse]. The role of the counsellor is to enhance the motivation and support their client in each stage of the process. Asia also presented the Motivational Interviewing tool, which is an interview style/technique/tool which is person-centred, a directive method of communication, and enhances the client’s motivation for change by exploring and resolving ambivalence.

The second half of the training was dedicated to discussions among the participants, in which they could share their experiences and best practices as well as ask questions to Asia.