Managing Expectations and Supporting Clients Who Display Reluctance Behaviors

Overview
The majority of behavioral health professionals can expect to face client of apprehension and reluctance to engage in services and ambivalence around change, most often seen in cases with clients mandated to participate in treatment. This can be distressing for providers and there are several factors that contribute to these behaviors (Eads, & Lee, 2019). As a result of this training, providers better understand, respond to, and manage distressing interactions with clients around client motivation and engagement in services. Concepts from evidence-based frameworks such as Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Therapy, and trauma-informed approaches are utilized to enhance providers’ skill set in understanding and working with clients exhibiting ambivalence and reluctance to engage in services (Westra & Norouzian, 2018). Additionally, this training supports providers in understanding the importance of and how to collaboratively set person-centered goals with clients especially as it relates to increasing treatment engagement (Bailey, 2017; Westra & Norouzian, 2018). Lastly, this training educates attendees on concepts such as burnout, compassion fatigue, transference, and countertransference to help normalize and understand common experiences they may encounter when handling challenging dynamics with clients (Rippon, et al., 2023).