Motivational Interviewing: A compassionate way to promote health and wellness

Jacki Hecht has a Masters’ degree in Oncology Nursing, and a Bachelor’s in Nutritional Sciences. She is the Managing Director of the Center for Health Equity Research at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing. Ms. Hecht has spent the last 30 years working in Behavioral Medicine Research at Brown University affiliated hospitals in Providence, RI, and (over the last 8 years) at the UT Austin School of Nursing, where she has designed, delivered, and evaluated motivational interventions to promote health behavior change in areas such as smoking, weight loss, substance use, and general health promotion. Ms. Hecht is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and has offered hundreds of MI training workshops and coaching sessions around the world for healthcare practitioners, including lay health workers.