OJACC OCTOBER 14, 2011
 Learn
evidenced based interview
techniques
 Provide
skill building practice
 Apply
skills to offender change
process
2
A directive, client-centered
counseling style for helping clients
explore and resolve ambivalence
about behavior change.
 “…is
a state of mind in which a person has
coexisting but conflicting feelings about
something.”
 “…want to, but I don’t want to.”
 “…is normal
 heart of the problem
4
Offenders answer the question:
What can I do to get out of Criminal
Justice System?
Interviewers focus on ambivalence
5
 Open
questions, affirmation, reflective
listening, summarization
 Questions
and strategies for eliciting self-
motivating statements
6
Open Question
vs
Closed Question
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



Do you have any prior arrests?
Have you ever been fired?
Do you have any criminal friends?
Do you think that laws are fair?
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



What experiences have you had in the
criminal justice system?
What were your favorite and least favorites
jobs? And Why?
What was the best advice that you ever got
from a friend? What was the worst?
Why do we have laws?
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Or Defensiveness Starts Increasing
 Parroting
 Paraphrasing
 Getting
the gist
 Reflection
of feeling
 Reflection
of feeling and content
 Reflections
of meaning, implication,
application
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DO
YOU MEAN...
YOU FEEL...
WHAT I HEAR YOU SAYING IS...
SO WHAT YOU ARE TELLING ME
IS...
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


Person 1: Pick a subject that you are
ambivalent about
Person 2: use the reflective do you mean…
Person 1: Yes or No Only
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 At
least 70% of questions are Open
 At least 2 Reflections for every question
 Interviewers not talking more than 40% of the
time
 Reflections with more involved content
structure are best
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Acknowledges
“I
client difficulty
hear and I understand”
Promotes
Express
self-efficacy
empathy
15
I appreciate how hard this must be.
 You took a big step.
 I think it’s great that you want to do
something about this problem.
 That must be very difficult for you.
 You’re certainly a resourceful person to
have been able to live with the problem this
long and not fall apart.
 That’s a good suggestion.
 Good work

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
Respond with an affirmation only
◦ I can picture how quitting using heroin would make
my life better, but I can’t imagine never shooting up
again
◦ Staying sober the last few weeks really makes me
feel good, but part of me wants to celebrate by
getting loaded
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





Ordering, directing
Warning, threatening
Giving advice, making suggestions, providing
solutions
Persuading with logic,
arguing,
lecturing
Moralizing, preaching
Judging, criticizing, blaming
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
Agreeing, approving, praising

Shaming, ridiculing, namecalling

Interpreting, analyzing

Reasoning, sympathizing

Questioning, probing

Withdrawing, distracting, humoring, changing
the subject
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 1.
Get client to realize that there is a problem
 2. Get client to realize that they should
change their behavior
 3. Get clients to feel like they can change
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How important is it for you to do clean up?
Why do you think that it is not okay to clean your
bed area?
Why do you think that foul language is
acceptable?
Why is it important to follow this rule?
What will be the consequences of not following
this rule?
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Is not following this rule getting you what you
want?
What will be the consequences if you do this?
What will be the consequences if you don’t do
this?
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 The
offender should be telling you why they
need to change
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

Use open questions, reflective listening and
affirmations for best information/change
Practice getting the offender to tell you why
they should change
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