Assignment: Identifying Stages of Change

Imagine that a client came to you as a first step, in one of the provided scenarios. It is likely you will need to recommend outside resources, beyond what you would provide, such as counseling, too. Even though you might not provide all the resources for a client as he or she goes through the stages of change, you should be able to predict which stages a client in a given situation is likely to go though.

In your chosen scenario, identify the stages of change that a client would likely go through and questions that you would ask him or her during each stage to help progress. Assess the resources that he or she might need and referrals that you might make for the client to be successful at each stage.

Choose a scenario from the given list and evaluate the stages of change. As part of your analysis, you should identify the culture, ethnicity, and/or country of the client. Analyze the scenario from the viewpoint of a human and social services professional after the client has come to your organization for help.

1. A client who received news of being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease
2. A manager of an organization that experienced a large layoff and employee morale is low
3. A community without clean running water
4. A client who is considered obese and obesity runs in the family
5. A client who is 43 and started smoking as a teenager
6. A community that has experienced a natural disaster, which has left many homeless and members of the community are coming to your organization for help

For your chosen scenario, use Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change. In 1–2 pages: Identify the questions you might ask while interviewing the client during each stage. Assess the resources that he or she might need and referrals that you might make for the client to be successful in moving from one stage to another. Be specific.

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Summers, N. (2016). Fundamentals of case management practice: Skills for the human services (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 7, “Identifying Good Responses and Poor Responses” (pp. 149–167)
• Chapter 12, “Collaborating With People for Change” (pp. 239–264)
• Appendix D, “Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change Model” (pp. 487–489)