Motivational Interviewing with Adolescents and Young Adults

On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Dr. Sylvie Naar will present a webinar, “Motivational Interviewing with Adolescents and Young Adults” as part of the Alan Hu Foundation Mental Health Lecture Series. Dr. Naar explains, “Drawing on themes from my book on motivational interviewing with adolescents and young adults, I will introduce practical evidence-based strategies for engaging young people in conversations about behavior change, mental health, and personal growth. Participants will learn how motivational interviewing fosters autonomy, strengthens resilience, and helps young people build motivation to navigate mental health challenges and life transitions. In alignment with the mission of the Alan Hu Foundation, the session will emphasize the importance of reducing stigma, promoting help-seeking, and creating supportive relationships that empower youth to move toward healthier and more hopeful futures.” Alan Hu Foundation Co-Founder and President, Ms. Xiaofang Chen, is grateful for the generous support of Three Valleys Community Foundation.

Sylvie Naar, Ph.D. is the Distinguished Endowed Professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at Florida State University, where she is the founding director of the Center for Translational Behavioral Science. She is trained as a pediatric health psychologist and has conducted health disparities research with minority youth for over 20 years. She has had several federally funded projects utilizing Motivational Interviewing to improve health behaviors in adolescents.

The free webinar will be held on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at 5:00 – 6:00 pm PT/8:00 – 9:00 pm ET via Zoom. It will include 15 minutes for questions and answers following Dr. Naar’s presentation. Please RSVP by August 24, 2026, at: https://alanhufoundation.org/ to receive the Zoom meeting link. Participants may join beginning at 4:45 pm PT/7:45 pm ET. The Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities at https://www.mhacc-usa.org will partially fund simultaneous Chinese interpretation. Spanish interpretation will also be provided.

The Alan Hu Foundation was created by Xiaofang Chen and Chih-Ching Hu in memory of their son, Alan. He passed away due to mental disorders in 2018 at the age of 15. Their mission is to promote mental health, raise awareness and remove stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders, and to support fundamental research for cures.

For further information and to support the Alan Hu Foundation, please visit the website: alanhufoundation.org/please-help