Ep 58 – MI and the Māori Culture

MI and the Māori Culture

Glenn and Sebastian welcomed Tipene Pickett on to discuss the Māori Culture from New Zealand and its relationship in the practice and teaching of Motivational inetrveiwng. Here is his bio:

Nga Ngaru a Te Huki te Maunga – The waves of Te Huki is my Mountain

Waihua te Awa – Waihua is my River

Kahungunu te Iwi – Kahungunu is my tribe

Kurahikakawa te Hapu – Kurahikakawa is my Sub-tribe

Waihua te Marae – Waihua is my Marae

Ko Tipene Pickett toku ingoa – Tipene Pickett is my name

Post Grad Cert Health Sciences, BA psych & Anthro., Member of Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) since 2013.

I have been an alcohol and drug since 1998 in a number of Governmental, NGO and Kaupapa Māori settings. A practitioner of Motivational Interviewing (MI) for the past 20 years and an MI trainer of trainers since 2013.

I’m currently self employed since 2019 and employed as a trainer for several Government District Health Boards as well as Non Government Organisations as a trainer for upskilling people in a variety of roles and across a number of disciplines including – Clinical Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Alcohol and Drug Clinicians. Peer Support Workers as well as Cultural Consultants. This also includes strategic planning and implementation to embed MI into the infrastructure of organizations in order to achieve a sustainable culture of ongoing evaluation and upskilling to maintain MI practitioners proficiency.

I provide a wide spectrum of MI training including MI with groups, coaching as well as training in the use of the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) & Video Assessment of Simulated Encounters (VASE-R NZ).

My special interest is in the relationship between MI and indigenous knowledge and wisdom. To that end I’ve had the privilege of developing a framework for framing the journey of MI within the context of the Maori language (Te Reo) and practices (Tikanga) as well as contemporary Maori models of health as well as use of traditional Pūrakau (narratives of origin) of enhancing wellbeing.

As a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers means I’m part of a global community of people who share a similar vision of change and scrutiny of professional practice in order to be the most effective clinicians we can be by embracing the way of being MI offers

He manu e kai ana i te miro, nōnā to ngahere. He manu e kai ana i te matauranga, nōnā to ao.

A bird who feeds of the miro berry, theirs is the forest. A bird who feeds on knowledge, theirs is the world.

Motivational Interviewing and Māori culture

Tipene Pickett explores Motivational Interviewing through the context of Māori culture in Aotearoa New Zealand. He considers how culture, identity, relationships and local ways of understanding wellbeing can shape both the practice and teaching of MI.

The episode highlights the importance of adapting training without losing the relational foundations of Motivational Interviewing, and of approaching cultural knowledge with humility rather than assuming one model fits every community. These themes connect with Partnership, Acceptance and the Spirit of Motivational Interviewing.

In this episode

00:00 – Introduction and episode preview

04:48 – Tipene’s introduction, early MI story, and his discovery of his own culture

14:45 – The experience of confrontation and learning about what’s more helpful

19:00 – Discovering what’s within you and who you are

26:30 – Engagement, self-disclosure, and narratives of origin

48:30 – Confidence rulers

1:01:30 – How might language change our physiology?

1:07:55 – End of episode

Glossary of Māori terms used in this episode:

Pepeha a description of tribal identity that includes:

Maunga – mountain

Awa – river

Hapuu – kinship group with common ancesto

Iwi – collection of hapuu with common ancestral canoe

Ka maa te ariki, ka maa te tauira – as we have chiefs, we are students

Mauri – Life principl