Examine Client’s Experience With Supportive and Nonsupportive Relationships
The counselor helps the client reevaluate relationships that have enhanced or impeded change:
C: Talking to someone else helped.
S: Yes, it did. And I kept cards and notes from my students in my purse and would take them out and look at them. Boy, I love those kids!
C: Your love for the children you teach and your husband’s support are powerful tools!
S: You bet!
Doug (D): My wife chose not to come today. She says this is my problem, and I need to solve it or find a new wife. After all these years of me smoking around her, now she wants immediate change and doesn’t want to help me!
C: As you work on making changes, you may not have the support you would like. How are things different since we met last?
D: I’ve tried to cut down to a couple of days a week, but it’s harder than I thought.
C: When you were successful, what did you do differently?
D: I didn’t take pot to work 2 days last week, so I couldn’t smoke. It wasn’t that bad. If I didn’t have it in my car, I didn’t leave work on an “errand” to smoke.
C: You found that you could make changes if you didn’t have marijuana in easy reach, and it may have been easier than you thought it might be. Did other things help?