About Us

Trevor J. Manthey has been training Motivational Interviewing (MI) and other evidence-based counseling skills since 2005. Trevor’s general interests include researching and training interventions that help facilitate self-determination in mental health and rehabilitation.

This interest in self-determination has led to authored publications on topics such as Shared- Decision Making, Self-Directed Care, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Supported Education, Trauma Informed Care, Supported Employment and Peer Support. Trevor is also a member of MINT (Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers).

His work history includes over 17 years of experience in a variety of outpatient and inpatient settings. Trevor has a BS in Psychology with a minor in business management, an MSW degree from Eastern Washington University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. Trevor has worked for several research and training agencies including the Idaho Child Welfare Research and Training Center, The Washington Institute for Mental Health Research and Training and The Office of Mental Health Research and Training in Kansas.

Trevor has experience in strengths-based and evidence supported strategies and has conducted fidelity reviews for several models including Assertive Community Treatment, Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment, Motivational Interviewing and Supported Education. Trevor has helped state agencies in their efforts to implement Motivational Interviewing system wide to assist in statewide cultural shifts towards more strengths-based strategies.

To ensure fidelity to the motivations interviewing intervention, Trevor has provided individualized coaching and feedback to counselors, supervisors, administrators, coordinators, benefits planners, front line and administrative staff. This is partially accomplished through a series of initial trainings followed up with coding audio of actual interviews with clients and then providing constructive coaching through telephone calls and further training/coaching efforts. Trevor has trained using online, in-person, audio coding, and phone coaching formats.

Trevor has extensive experience using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity 3.1 and 4.1 to code audio recordings of practice skills and use the resulting feedback for coaching people to proficiency in MI. Over the past 10 years Trevor has also trained many cohorts to be able to provide coding and coaching feedback for themselves. Trevor has provided some or all these services to vocational rehabilitation agencies in Washington, Idaho, Kansas, Wisconsin, Colorado, Canada, New York, Arkansas and elsewhere.

Trevor was also part of an implementation team awarded the Nation Council on Rehabilitation Education Presidents Award for training in Motivational Interviewing for the first ever empirical trail of MI in a VR setting in Wisconsin.

Melissa Diehl has over 25 years of experience and expertise with the Public Rehabilitation Program, at the State and Federal level, and currently as a senior technical assistance and research analyst at the George Washington (GW) University.

Her prior work with the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, Rehabilitative Services Administration for the State Monitoring Program Improvement Division offered invaluable experience and knowledge that now benefit several grant projects including the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C), and the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Management (VRTAC:QM), and GW’s Center for Innovative Training.

Melissa and her team provide consultation, training, universal, targeted, and intensive technical assistance to State Agencies and their Stakeholders as subject matter experts. Melissa also serves as adjunct in the Master’s program on Rehabilitation Counseling at the George Washington University, and recently completed her Doctoral coursework in Human and Organizational Learning, Executive Leadership Program and is in the process of completing her dissertation.

Christine Johnson, M.A. Ed. CRC, has over 30 years of experience and expertise in the field of vocational rehabilitation, including with the State Public Rehabilitation Program, and currently as a senior technical assistance and research analyst with the George Washington University Center for Rehabilitation Counseling Research and Education (CRCRE).

Christine works for the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C) providing consultation, training, universal, targeted, and intensive technical assistance to State Agencies and their Stakeholders as a subject matter expert. Her areas of interest include working with unserved and underserved populations, peer mentoring, and mental health.

Dr. James McNeil is a rehabilitation counselor educator who specializes in helping individuals with disabilities overcome workplace challenges.

With over a decade of experience, he has worked with a number of state agencies and several big-named companies, including Lowe’s, Prudential, and Amazon.

In 2021, Dr. McNeil appeared as a rehabilitation expert for The Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA), an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability.

Dr. McNeil enjoys breaking down complex problems into smaller simpler ones. He currently lives in the Greater Charlotte area with his two sons, James and Elijah.

DJ Ralston, M.A., (they/them) has close to 20 years of experience working in the disability and employment arena at the local, state, and national levels. DJ’s areas of research, expertise, and interest include braiding and leveraging resources across systems and programgs, the intersection between disability and poverty, and the impact of intersecting identities and ensuring access and inclusion in Vocational Rehabilitation services for those populations who have been historically and structurally marginalized and excluded.



They have a Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling from Western Washington University, completed and maintain a Community Partner Work Incentive Coordinator (CP-WIC) Certification from Virginia Commonwealth University, and are a Doctoral Candidate in Human and Organizational Learning.