The Effective School Counselor With a High Risk Teen: Motivational Interviewing Demonstration
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful script, a counselor engages with Andrea, a high school junior, focusing on her aspirations and values. They explore Andrea's social life, particularly her relationship with alcohol, and its impact on her goals. Through reflective dialogue, the counselor helps Andrea recognize the importance of respecting herself and her body, leading to a discussion about reducing alcohol consumption to align with her future ambitions of attending an Ivy League school and becoming a psychiatrist.
Takeaways
- 😀 The counselor emphasizes the student's autonomy and the importance of self-reflection on personal goals and values.
- 🎶 Andrea is deeply involved in music, participating in various ensembles, which contributes to her sense of community and belonging.
- 👨👧 Andrea values her family and mentions having an older brother and a golden retriever dog, indicating her connection to her home environment.
- 🏫 Andrea has good academic performance with a GPA of around 3.7 and aspires to attend an Ivy League school to study psychology and become a psychiatrist.
- 🗝 The counselor introduces a list of values to Andrea, who identifies 'sense of community and belonging' and 'respect' as most important to her.
- 🍻 Alcohol is present in Andrea's social life, mainly during parties, and is seen as a way to loosen up and have fun, but also has negative aspects.
- 🚫 Andrea is aware of the dangers of alcohol, such as drunk driving and poor decision-making, and tries to limit its consumption to safe environments.
- 🤔 The counselor helps Andrea explore the balance between enjoying alcohol's social benefits and the need to respect her body and future goals.
- 🔄 Andrea considers setting limits on her drinking, such as making her own drink to control the amount and trying to make it last longer during social events.
- 🔄 The counselor uses decisional balance to help Andrea weigh the pros and cons of her drinking habits and to identify her motivations for change.
- 📝 The session concludes with Andrea expressing a goal to reduce her alcohol consumption, with the counselor suggesting a follow-up meeting to track progress.
Q & A
What is the primary role of the counselor in the conversation?
-The counselor's primary role is to meet with students, discuss their behaviors, and help them think about potential changes for their lives, while respecting their autonomy and not trying to change them.
Why is Andrea involved in various music ensembles?
-Andrea is involved in various music ensembles because she has a passion for music, having started playing instruments 10 years ago and enjoys the team setting of working towards a common goal.
What are Andrea's academic goals after high school?
-Andrea's academic goals are to graduate high school, hopefully attend an Ivy League school, and then study to become a doctor, specifically a psychiatrist.
What values does Andrea identify as most important to her?
-Andrea identifies a sense of community, belonging, and respect as the values most important to her.
How does Andrea's involvement in the marching band relate to her values?
-Andrea's involvement in the marching band relates to her values of community and belonging because she enjoys being part of a team working towards a shared goal.
What is Andrea's perspective on the role of alcohol in her social life?
-Andrea sees alcohol as a way to loosen up and have fun during parties, but she also acknowledges the need for safety and moderation to avoid negative consequences.
How often does Andrea engage in drinking?
-Andrea estimates that during a not busy month, she drinks on about two to three weekends out of the month.
What are some of the negative consequences Andrea associates with excessive drinking?
-Andrea associates excessive drinking with making poor decisions, getting sick from overconsumption, and engaging in inappropriate behaviors.
How does Andrea's aunt's situation influence her views on alcohol?
-Andrea's aunt being an alcoholic makes her more aware of the potential dangers and consequences of alcohol abuse, influencing her to be cautious and respectful of her own limits.
What strategies does Andrea consider to reduce her alcohol consumption?
-Andrea considers making her own drinks to control the amount, extending the time she spends on one drink, and planning more activities that do not involve alcohol.
How confident is Andrea in her ability to cut down on drinking if she decides to?
-Andrea is very confident, rating her ability to cut down on drinking as a ten on a scale from one to ten.
What does the counselor suggest as a follow-up to their conversation?
-The counselor suggests meeting again in a couple of weeks to check on Andrea's progress with her goal of reducing alcohol consumption.
Outlines
🎓 Introduction and Personal Goals
The counselor begins the session by introducing herself and her role, emphasizing that she is there to support the student's autonomy and self-reflection. She meets with Andrea, a junior involved in various musical ensembles, to discuss her life, behaviors, and potential changes. Andrea shares her background in music, her family, and her academic performance. The counselor then explores Andrea's future aspirations, which include attending an Ivy League school and becoming a psychiatrist, highlighting Andrea's ambitious goals.
🍻 Social Life and Alcohol Consumption
The conversation shifts to Andrea's social life, focusing on the role of alcohol in her social activities. Andrea admits to drinking at parties to 'loosen up' and have fun but notes that she tries to drink safely, often staying at a friend's house to avoid driving. The counselor explores the positive and negative aspects of alcohol in Andrea's life, including the enjoyment it brings to social gatherings and the potential for poor decisions and health consequences. Andrea acknowledges the need for balance and the desire to limit alcohol consumption.
🚫 Balancing Fun and Safety
Andrea discusses her strategies for managing alcohol consumption, such as making her own drinks to control the amount and trying to make one drink last. She admits that sometimes she exceeds her limit, especially when pressured by friends to take shots. The counselor helps Andrea identify her values, such as respect and community, and how they relate to her drinking behavior. Andrea expresses a desire to reduce drinking to align with her values and goals, recognizing the importance of respecting her body.
🔄 Planning for Change and Future Meetings
The counselor and Andrea discuss the importance of making adjustments to her drinking habits to better align with her values and future goals. Andrea is confident in her ability to cut down on alcohol if she decides to, rating her confidence at a ten. They brainstorm ideas for reducing alcohol intake, such as planning non-alcoholic activities and being okay with friends drinking while she abstains. The counselor suggests a follow-up meeting to check on Andrea's progress, and Andrea agrees, showing her commitment to working on this goal.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Counselor
💡Autonomy
💡Values
💡Social Scene
💡Alcohol
💡Decisional Balance
💡Self-Respect
💡Belonging
💡Behavior Change
💡Goal Setting
💡Confidence
Highlights
Counselor emphasizes student's autonomy and the importance of self-reflection on behaviors and life changes.
Introduction of the counselor's role and the purpose of the meeting to discuss student's well-being and potential changes.
Student Andrea shares her involvement in music and various ensembles, indicating her passion and commitment.
Discussion of Andrea's family background and the importance of pets in her life, providing insight into her support system.
Revealing Andrea's academic performance and aspirations, highlighting her drive for excellence.
Introduction of values clarification exercise to understand what is important to Andrea in her life.
Andrea identifies 'sense of community' and 'respect' as her core values, linking them to her experiences in the marching band.
Counselor explores the role of alcohol in Andrea's social life and its impact on her enjoyment and behavior.
Andrea acknowledges the negative aspects of excessive drinking, such as poor decision-making and health consequences.
The counselor uses decisional balance to help Andrea weigh the pros and cons of her drinking habits.
Andrea's recognition of the need for safety measures while drinking, such as not driving and staying with trusted friends.
Counselor connects Andrea's drinking behavior with her values, particularly respect for herself and her body.
Andrea expresses her desire to reduce drinking to align with her values and future goals, including becoming a doctor.
Confidence assessment of Andrea's ability to cut down on drinking, with her rating herself a 'ten' on commitment.
Andrea considers strategies for reducing alcohol intake, such as opting out of drinking during social events.
Counselor and Andrea agree on a follow-up meeting to track progress and discuss further strategies.
Counselor summarizes the session, appreciating Andrea's participation and expressing optimism for her future goals.
Transcripts
watch what happens this time when the
counselor keeps the conversation focused
on the students own goals and values
encouraging her to think about what
behaviors fit best with her own plans
for the future hi Andrea
thanks for coming in thank you so I
don't know how much you know already
about sort of my role here and why
you're even here so I thought I'd start
by telling you a little bit about myself
basically my job is to meet with all of
the students I meet with everybody about
once or twice a semester and just talk
with you a little bit about how things
are going different behaviors that you
might be engaging in and thinking about
any changes you might want to make for
your life if you decide that you do it's
not my job to change you I couldn't even
if I wanted to that's not my role at all
it's really to help you think about you
know how things are going for you and
how you might like making changes or
moving forward that sound okay all right
so why don't we start by you telling me
a little bit about yourself
sure um as you know I'm Andrea I uh I'm
a junior I'm in the marching band I
played at center sacks I mean yeah I'm
also in the little bit of a band geek I
play you know the Wind Ensemble and the
Jazz Band things like that wow you
really are involved in music yeah when
did you start
I started playing about 10 years ago
actually Wow yeah I start on the violin
first and then I went on explored a
little with the piano clarinet finally
found the tenor sax hmm yeah very cool
I've always wanted to be good at music
all right so it sounds like you're in
band and a few other musical ensembles
any other hobbies you have or things you
like to do for fun
um you know just hanging out with my
friends or go to the beach things like
that it's kind of everyday sort of thing
okay tell me a little bit about your
family uh well I have one older brother
he's about eight and a half old years
older than me my parents and I have dog
cute what kind of dogs the golden
retriever oh nice I'm a big boy
very fun all right and how are things
going in school for you pretty good
grades have been pretty all right
still like 3.7 ish okay great so you're
doing well what sorts of goals do you
have for after college or after high
school I'd like to you know I'd like to
of course graduate high school hopefully
go to a nice Ivy League school or I mean
that might not happen and then I'd like
to go on become a doctor study
psychology you need to come a
psychiatrist or something okay you have
some pretty big dreams
yeah it's great that's really exciting
to think about that and he's going to be
looking forward to the future and those
things all right well one thing I'm
going to ask you about is um you know
different people have sort of different
things that they really value in their
life whether it's you know their
cultural identity or their family or
their friends or job or hobbies things
like that so here's a little sheet that
goes through just some basic values that
might be more or less important to
certain people like belonging or sense
of community again cultural identity or
family friendship modesty religion
respect self-determination and
spirituality so when you think about
yourself which of these are kind of most
important to you in terms of your life
um I think a sense of community and
belonging okay I think those two and um
respect respect okay can you tell me a
little bit about why you picked those
three yeah well I think the community
belonging I kind of related them um you
know how I said I was in the marching
band I really you know I really enjoyed
being in like that team setting of you
know being with other people and all
working to work together towards that
one goal mm-hmm and then in terms of
respect I I kind of view that as one of
like my major like rules like I I really
do think respect is important to respect
myself or respect those around me so
okay I place great importance in that
okay great so sort of being a part of a
group and being a part of a team gives
you a sense of belonging like you said
a sense of purpose anyway and then the
respect is really sort of
all-encompassing it's not just Authority
but respecting yourself respecting your
teammates or your bandmates and other
people around you okay that's great
all right well one of the things I want
to talk to you about sort of relates to
belonging and your friends so what kinds
of things do you like to do when you get
together with your friends um sometimes
if you just you know go to the movies go
to the beach like I had said or
sometimes we just get together someone's
house play some board games and hang out
mm-hmm and when you're hanging out with
friends is there ever alcohol involved
yeah sometimes okay can you tell me a
little bit about how alcohol fits into
sort of your social scene uh well it's
mostly just for for parties or party
settings it's kind of to get things
going and got everything loosened up as
they say mm-hmm and so when you go to
parties most of the time there's alcohol
there okay and how often do you think
you would say you're drinking I'd say um
on a not busy month for instance I'd say
about like two weekends out of the month
two three mm-hmm so about half the time
you're drinking and half the time you're
not can you tell me what's different
about the days when you choose to drink
versus not to drink the days that we
drink are mostly like I said they're
parties so it's more of that whole
partying and dancing and you know having
everyone have fun and then when we don't
it's a lot more relaxed it's a lot more
hanging out playing board games watching
a movie it's not yeah so it really
depends on what the activity is whether
or not alcohols get definitely okay and
do you notice a big difference or can
you tell me about the difference in your
enjoyment level at say a party versus
and that you're playing board games I
think of them as as different I think
you know like in playing board games and
things it's meant to be relaxing so it's
nice to have like that kind of breather
versus with a party it's a lot more
energetic it's a after at all it's very
draining mm-hmm but in the moment it's
quite fun to dance and have
okay so there's sort of pros and cons oh
yeah okay what are the things that you
like about drinking or like about
alcohol um it's you know when we drink
we we tend to have more fun because I
guess we're not you know everyone's
drinking together we're a lot more
loosened up and relaxed and not really
thinking about stresses or things like
that but it can be when it's too much
drinking it can be can be obviously bad
okay
so sort of in the the too much drinking
or our times can you tell me some of the
less good things or not so good things
about alcohol um a lot of times it will
make make people stupid yeah you know
people make dumb decisions and things
like that we we usually try to be as
safe about it as possible so like
sleepover friends house and so you know
we're not driving and it's mostly within
our friend group so we're not worried
about strangers putting weird things in
our drinks but um definitely some of the
ideas people can have when they're
stupid when they're drunk can can be
really stupid
hmm so you're trying to like you said
not engage in really dangerous
activities you're trying to stay put
you're not driving you're trying to stay
with people that you trust but yet it
sounds like there's still some some
things happening sometimes yeah can you
tell me a little bit about that well I
especially don't like it whenever me or
one of my friends like we drink too much
and we hadn't up like throwing up and
things like that that I don't that's not
fun
yeah throwing up is never fun it's not
and how often do you think that happened
for me that's happened to me once it was
the first time I ever drank and it was
it was a lot and you know what I was
doing I was mixing all kinds of weird
things I'm just kind of taking anything
ever anyone gave me and that didn't end
well but after that I have it but I do
have friends that that still do
sometimes so I'll end up like having to
take care of them or something and okay
it kind of put it down around my my fun
huh okay so on the one side some of the
fun things associated with alcohol are
people are just more relaxed sort of
carefree and kind of let loose a little
bit more on the other hand there's a
little bit more I guess planning
involved because you have to make sure
that you're doing it safely or as safe
as you can and then there can be some
other consequences like throwing up or
even if it's not you that sometimes
you're stuck your your fun is sort of
ruined when you're stuck dealing with a
friend you drink too much
okay any other not-so-good things about
the alcohol yeah people can get a little
like sloppy I guess like they're all
loose like with people and corners doing
things that should be done in private
and that kind of stuff so you're kind of
stuck being exposed to things you don't
mean busy yeah got it okay all right
well you mentioned a couple times that
you've made a few decisions to try and
limit the a dangerous aspect of the
drinking why did you make those
decisions I just I you know have an aunt
who is an alcoholic so I I see like the
issues that are involved and I've seen
movies and things I know that drunk
driving is an issue so I you know I want
to be as safe as possible in those terms
and be in a setting where like we can
let loose but still be safe like I
someone's house or someone's parents
home or something but so I like I know
that there are dangers involved and I
guess I want to limit that and still be
able to have fun okay
yeah it sounds kind of similar to your
your value of respect too so on the one
hand you the drinking maybe helps with
the belonging community to start if
there's too much then it sort of defeats
the purpose right and then with the
respect one of the things you mentioned
is really wanting to respect yourself
and not sort of cross boundaries not
sort of cross lines how do you think
that the drinking fits in with that in
terms of what in terms of respect I
think well in a way I do think that
drinking is probably a form of
disrespect to my own body because I'm
not putting things I'm putting things in
it that shouldn't be there and then but
in terms of hot ways I am respecting
myself I am I'm respecting myself by
like trying to stay in someone's house
and like trying to limit my drinking so
I don't get to that blacked out like
throwing up and everything and try to
you know let loose but still be in
control of my behavior so I'm not going
to go with some random person I met in -
I don't know where to do I don't know
what and things like that okay
so you're sort of looking for that
balance yeah how much you can drink to
have some of the positive benefit but
about crossover okay and what have you
come up with it at this point do you
have sort of a limit that you stick to
or usually well I start off by make sure
that I make my own drink so I know
what's in it how much is in it so that
way I control how much I drink so I'll
usually just you know get one of those
cups and then make one drink and then
I'll try to make it last as long as
possible and I'll be like all right this
is my one drink and I'm good in that way
I still have something in my cup some
people aren't going to be like oh here
have some more like no I'm good I have
mine and I'll still be you know having
some to like let loose a little mm-hmm
and do you feel like that's working
pretty well for you or you sometimes
exceed that limit or or what do you
think for the most part it works pretty
well because like I said people you know
people come asking me trying to pressure
me I'll be like no I'm good I have you
know I still have so I'm like I'll get
some later and then never end up getting
anything but sometimes they'll be like
hey let's take a shot and everyone's got
it around like the kitchen or something
ready to take a shot and then at that
point I'll be like oh well maybe I can
take one more and that's when I start
you know falling into okay too much so a
portion of the time it's working well
for you and another portion of the time
maybe you like I'd like to make some
adjustments to
to make it a little smoother okay so
kind of thinking along those lines how
important is it to you to make some
changes or make some adjustments to your
drinking to sort of fit with your values
and your goals for yourself um I'd like
to make sure that I you know in terms of
respecting myself of my body I'd like to
you know try to drink less okay like I
you know it is nice to let loose and
have fun but I'd also like it to be so
you know I'm not damaging my body and I
like my liver doesn't work by the time
I'm like 22 mm-hmm and um you know have
my friends on board with a similar
mentality so we can kind of work at it
together as a group as a community
uh-huh so kind of combined he has goals
okay so you're you have a goal it sounds
like of actually cutting back on your
drinking how important is it to you to
work on that goal on on the scale of one
to ten where one is not at all important
antennas it's the most important thing
right now I'd say about like like a six
or a seven oh I like to work on it but
you know if I get around to it I get
around to if I don't I don't
uh-huh well why did you say six or seven
rather than like a four um because I
still think it's it's important
uh-huh I still you know like I said I
don't want my body tried specially going
to my school like I know how things
affect your body and also affect your
your social and your schoolwork and
things like that I know that once I get
to college it's not it's not gonna gonna
work out being you know drinking every
weekend and I'm like trying to wake up
early and go to school take an exam I
know that's not that's not feasible it's
not a good idea yeah looking ahead
you can't keep drinking this way and
reach the goals that you have for years
now okay well how confident are you that
you could cut down if you wanted to I
think on that same scale from one to ten
I think if I made the decision I was
going to for sure then I think
definitely like a ten I know I oh wow
okay why did you say ten it's just
because I know that once I make the
decision I know I can
making the decision in the first place
okay
weather okay and so you mentioned you
know quite a few reasons why you would
like to cut down have you thought at all
about how you might go about doing that
um I'm thinking of maybe like trying to
convince my friends without sounding you
know dorky or something be like hey you
know let's just stay in today like let's
not go out or something or just be like
hey I'm not like I'm not going to drink
today and even if my friends do like
being okay with them drinking around me
not doing it and then then being okay
with me drinking me not drinking and
them doing whatever they want so sort of
trying to plan more activities that
don't involve alcohol and then also
trying to participate in activities
without drinking yourself or maybe even
drinking less than you're drinking okay
does that sound like a goal you want to
work on now or I think so I think it's
it's very feasible I think it's possible
okay um so I guess we'll talk about less
alcohol activities and just making some
notes to myself and then maybe I'm
reducing the amount of drinking that
you're doing if alcohol is involved okay
so that's that goal sounds feasible you
said would it be okay if we met in a
couple weeks to sort of see how it's
going I think so
that's good does that sound like
something you'd like to do okay well I
really appreciate you spending the time
talking to me and you know it sounds
like you have a lot of really good goals
for yourself really ambitious goals and
going to medical school and you know
becoming a psychiatrist or some some
other form of physician you're really
looking forward to doing well in school
so you can get there and it sounds like
you have a pretty active social life and
a lot of friends who you feel probably
would be supportive even if you cut down
on alcohol and that you know there's a
lot of benefits you see both to your
body and your health you
school performance and even some of the
social stuff in terms of feeling a sense
of belonging without having to deal with
some of the gross consequences of
drinking too much so yeah you know it
really sounds to me like you have a good
plan in place and as long as you're
willing and interested in meeting again
and be very excited to be able to talk
with you about how it's going
I'd like to alright great so I'll plan
to see you then in a few more weeks
Thanks this time the council began by
setting the agenda and emphasizing the
students autonomy right away she used
open questions and reflections to build
rapport then turned to a focus on
Andrea's values in order to deepen the
connection
this led easily into a discussion of
Andrea's social life and an open
question about the role that alcohol
plays in it skillful use of reflections
guided the conversation while
encouraging the student to open up to
the counselor by using a decisional
balance the counselor was able to assess
barriers to change as well as to elicit
reasons for change and opportunities to
affirm
Andrea's good decisions she was then
able to ask Andrea to expand on her
reasons for setting limits with her
drinking which highlighted some of the
consequences of alcohol use without
using lectures were scolding the student
the counselor also tied the drinking
behavior to Andrea's values helping to
develop a discrepancy between her
personal goals and actions this set the
stage for clarification of goals and
beginning discussion of a change plan
however the counselor encouraged the
student to choose her own behavior
change goal in order to ensure it was
something Andrea felt confident she
could achieve she ended the session with
a summary of their discussion expressed
appreciation for Andrea's participation
and communicated optimism about the plan
and her desire to continue working with
her in the future
you
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