1.  Range of environments –  office, phone, corridor, home, hospital bedside, car, coffee shop.  Office – think about the pros and cons  Home environment?  On the street?  On line/telephone Discuss the issues we need to consider?

2.  For some the home may be appropriate  But can entail disruptions – TV, visitors, children  Agency worker may feel more at home in the office but does the client?  Think about the impact of the environment on the process of engagement.

3.  Different practice settings will have different policies and procedures regarding what can be done by whom and to who.  The mandate of the agency provides the framework for the relationship of worker and client  Need to be clear about the role and purpose of the agency and worker.

4.  Self referral –initiate own contact  Referral - Someone else refers the client - by phone or in writing  Mandated attendance – legal obligation

5.  Greetings and introductions  Discussing purpose  Confidentiality  Record keeping –the written documentation- notes of progress, assessments, letters  Privacy legislation  Explaining agency limits- confidentiality, note taking, eligibility.

6.  Empathy  Verbal and non verbal communication skills  Questioning

7.  Formal court orders  Other forms of compulsion- e.g school insists on a young person seeing a counsellor  Worker is part of the sanction  Try to see the strengths - focus on what the person does well  Belief that everyone has strengths and resources

8.  Focus is less on the problem more on the solutions to the problem  Search for exceptions to the problem  Encourage appropriate goals - how things will be different when the problem is no longer there  Encourage pro social actions and encourage and praise  Challenge anti social actions

9.  Identify the issues of concern  Identify what to work on first -priority  Why is the client a client? EG a drug problem – then focus on this first  Goals are specified in relation to the problem i.e what specifically do they want to achieve?  Strategies are developed/contract is agreed  Review is ongoing  Use alongside a strengths focus.

10.  Barriers -not easy to ask for and receive help  Fears and anxieties  Involuntary clients  Is the agency accessible?  Appearance and physical location  Friendliness of staff  Reception  Furniture/tea/coffee/play area

11.  Not being able to help  Causing harm  Fear of hostility  Fear of loss of control of the interview  Fear of rejection and aggression  Fear of painful feeling brought up by the client’s situation  Other?

12.  Exercise – short practice session  Partialising and sorting  Practice exercises - triads

13.  Think of a real conflict or difficulty  Interview the person asking for a general outline about the situation and about the feelings attached  Search for facts- give me specific examples and information of what was said, what you did, what happened next etc,  Search for feelings How did you feel when this happened? Search for meaning - what does this all mean to you? Bring out facts feelings and meaning.

14.  Refer to interview structure hand out  Refer to interview checklist hand out.  Practice your skills!