How to Coach Yourself and Others Empowering Coaching And Crisis Interventions | Page 54
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behavior relates to national norms (e.g., percentage of men and women drinking at different levels; percentage
of population using cannabis in the last year; see Appendices 4.2c and 4.2d for examples of such feedback).
Presenting personalized feedback in a motivational manner allows clients to evaluate the feedback for personal
relevance (“I guess I drink as much as my friends, but maybe we are all drinking more than we should.”).
When therapists ask clients what they know about how their risky/problem behavior affects other aspects of
their life (e.g., health—hypertension) clients typically say, “Well not much” or they might give one or two brief
facts. This can be followed-up by asking if they are interesting in learning more about the topic and then being
prepared to provide them with relevant advice feedback material that the therapist has prepared or has available.
Lastly, whenever possible, focus on the positives of changing. A good example of providing positive
information about changing is evident with smoking. Within 20 minutes of stopping smoking an ex-smoker’s
body begins a series of changes ranging from an immediate decrease in blood pressure to 15 years after quitting
the risk of coronary heart disease and death returns to nearly that of those who have never smoked
[http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=33568]. What is interesting with this example is that
many smokers are not aware of the multiple benefits that occur soon after quitting.
In this regard, therapists can ask, “What do you know about the benefits of quitting smoking?” and follow-up
with asking permission to talk about the client’s smoking (“Do you mind if we spend a few minutes talking
about your smoking?”).
Remember that some clients will not want information. In these cases, if the therapist uses scare tactics, lectures,
moralizes, or warns of disastrous consequences, most clients are not likely to listen or will pretend to agree in
order to not be further attacked.
Examples of How to Provide Advice/Feedback
(often this can start by asking permission to talk about the client’s behavior)
“Do you mind if we spending a few minutes talking about….? [Followed by] “What do you know
about….?” [Followed still by] “Are you interested in learning more about…..?”
[After this clients can be provided with relevant materials relating to changing their risky/problem behavior or
what affects it has on other aspects of their life.]
“What do you know about how your drinking affects your [insert health problem]?”
“What do you know about the laws and what will happen if you get a second drunk driving arrest?”
“Okay, you said that the legal limit for drunk driving is 0.08%. What do you know about how many drinks it
takes to get to this level?”
“So you said you are concerned about gaining weight if you stop smoking. How much do you think the
average person gains in the first year after quitting?”
“I’ve taken the information about your drinking that you provided at the assessment ,calculated what you
report drinking per week on average, and it is presented on this form along with graphs showing levels of
drinking in the general population. Where do you fit in?”
“On one of the questionnaires you filled out, the Drug Abuse Screening Test, you scored a 7. This form
shows how scores on that measure are related to drug problem severity. Where do you fit in?”
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