Assessing Client Potential for Behavior Change

You also may remember that client motivation dictates what kinds of therapeutic strategies should be used by a therapist in order to successfully match interventions with stages of change. Because it is essential to understand these client factors for successful treatment to occur, assessing these variables is a must. 

Another method to assess skills is to observe how the client works with others in group sessions, how the client interacts with others during nontherapy situations at your center, or even to observe client interaction with you in and out of session. Observation of this social behavior provides insight into how the client may interact with others outside treatment, and whether that style of interaction is appropriate. Finally, role-playing in session gives you an opportunity to observe the client in action. For example, you may want a client to role-play with you in session how he or she will deal with specific relationship problems in order to observe how the client might interact outside of session. This provides an opportunity to correct inappropriate or dysfunctional behavior in a safe situation, as well as practice new skills. In addition, you get to observe the client under some pressure if the role-play is done realistically, and that will provide you a great deal of information that can help you help your client. 

If you are interested in learning more about assessment tools for drug problems, there are several great resources to find them. I recommend several books at the end of this chapter that may help. In addition, many assessment tools can be found on the Internet. The best places to look include Web sites for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA http //www.drugabuse.gov) and 

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