JCP Youth’s team has completed two days of motivational interviewing training with Ken McMaster, part of a 12-month commitment to strengthen the support it delivers to young people.
Ken travelled from New Zealand to Tasmania to work with the team, bringing 43 years of experience in the sector. Staff from the Department for Education, Children and Young People joined JCP staff to learn and work alongside them.
Understanding motivation for change
Motivational interviewing is a collaborative, goal-oriented counselling style that helps people explore and resolve ambivalence and build their own motivation for positive behaviour change.
Ambivalence means feeling pulled in different directions: a person may see reasons to make a change while also having reasons to hesitate. The approach makes room for that uncertainty and focuses on the person’s own reasons for change and the goals they want to work towards.
For JCP, developing the team’s understanding of this approach is part of its commitment to strengthening how it supports young people.
A commitment to continued learning
The two days are part of ongoing training across the entire JCP team. JCP Youth set out the purpose of the commitment in its original update:
“These sessions form part of a 12-month commitment with Ken, providing ongoing training across our entire team to strengthen the support we deliver to young people.”
First shared on JCP Youth’s Facebook page on 15 September 2026.