Todd & Justine provide training nationally,
but they call Buffalo, NY home.

 
Logo for Sage Training & Consulting, LLC, featuring sage green speech bubbles, a leaf motif, and the tagline Trauma-Informed Motivational Interviewing.

I'm Todd, and I lead the work at Sage Training and Consulting, joined by my co-lead Justine O'Brien, LMSW. I am also a Clinical Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work, a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), and have trained hundreds of child welfare professionals across multiple states. After more than 25 years of partnership with my late wife Melanie, who shaped this work alongside me, I continue to bring the same approach to every training and consultation: professional curiosity, humor, vulnerability, care for the people we work with, and a commitment to lifelong learning.

Justine joined Sage Training and Consulting as a Motivational Interviewing trainer in 2022 and brings deep clinical experience in substance use disorder treatment, criminal court social work, and group facilitation. She is a recipient of the Julian Sojda Memorial Award, has taught in the University at Buffalo School of Social Work and in CASAC training programs, and has co-presented with us on trauma-informed motivational interviewing at the Title IV-E National Round Table. Her work is grounded in trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and meeting people where they are.

In training, we nudge participants toward thinking bigger about what drives human behavior, encourage and cajole participation and practice, and help people identify their own reasons for becoming better helpers. We try to see the humanity in everyone we work with and model this for the people in the room.

Our approach is informed by cultural humility, and practices that are humanistic, client-centered, and trauma-informed. We understand the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and other Social Determinants of Health, including poverty and racism.

We love this work, and we believe in the power of motivational interviewing to change practice, and through that, to change the lives of the people and communities our partner organizations serve.

 

Todd Sage, PhD, LMSW, CASAC-MAC
Founder, Sage Training and Consulting LLC

Todd Sage is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and the founder of Sage Training and Consulting, where he helps human service organizations move Motivational Interviewing from a workshop topic into everyday practice. His work spans skills training, fidelity coaching with coded practice samples, and workforce development for child welfare systems, healthcare practices, and community-based agencies.

Todd is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work, where he teaches graduate courses in Motivational Interviewing, substance use treatment, mental health and disability, and group practice, both on campus and online. His doctoral research examined the organizational and delivery variables that determine whether MI training actually transfers to the job. That question shapes how he builds every engagement: real play, individualized coding and feedback, and follow-up coaching rather than one-and-done trainings.

Before academia, Todd worked as a child protective services caseworker and as a counselor in substance use treatment, domestic violence, law enforcement, and veterans settings. He is a U.S. Army veteran, co-host of the inSocialWork podcast, and Co-Chair of the Western New York Citizen Review Panel. He currently provides MI fidelity coaching to state child welfare staff and delivers training to healthcare and community agencies across New York.

Trained Professional Coach

Justine O’Brien, LMSW

Justine O'Brien is Lead Trainer at Sage Training and Consulting, where she delivers Motivational Interviewing training and provides fidelity coding and coaching on agency and state-level contracts. She has been training practitioners in MI since 2022 across community-based, court-involved, and academic settings.

Her clinical background is in substance use disorder treatment, criminal court social work, harm reduction services, and group facilitation. That experience is what she brings into the training room: she teaches MI as a skill set for real caseloads and difficult conversations, not as techniques that only hold up in a demonstration.

Justine has taught in the University at Buffalo School of Social Work and in CASAC certification programs, and is a recipient of the Julian Sojda Memorial Award. She has co-presented on trauma-informed Motivational Interviewing at the Title IV-E National Round Table, and her practice and teaching are grounded in harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and culturally humble practice.

 

Implementation Practice

 
 
National Implementation Research Network implementation drivers model helps explain evidence about factors that contribute to fidelity

National Implementation Research Network implementation drivers model helps explain evidence about factors that contribute to fidelity

Implementation Practice

Training alone isn’t enough: lasting change requires Implementation Practice. This approach uses research-based strategies to ensure evidence-based practices like Motivational Interviewing (MI) take root and stay strong over time.

Our Implementation Practice Facilitators work with agencies to design supports that build and maintain fidelity—the degree to which a practice is delivered as intended. In MI, for example, fidelity tools like the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) form assess whether practitioners are using MI with competence.

Strategies to strengthen fidelity may include:

  • Assessing the barriers and facilitators to support MI practice

  • Hiring staff whose skills and values align with the practice

  • Ensuring policies, workflows, and forms support the EBP

  • Providing ongoing training, coaching, and feedback

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