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The Howard Center for Human Services First Call for Children and Families |
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First Call |
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The Howard Center for Human Services First Call for Children and Families |
To contact
First Call |
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THE TWENTY-FIRST PRINCIPLE USING LIFE SPACE INTERVIEWING SKILLS Life Space Interviewing is a very advanced interpersonal skill. Youth in need of help tend to resist more traditional clinical interventions. These interventions may be effective; however, their focus on identification of psychopathology and personal deficits tends to increase personal resistance and opposition in troubled adolescents. Cooperation and motivation in problem solving and decision making improve when adults collaborate to identify and use the individual's personal strengths and solution-focused approaches. Most emotional crises develop from normal developmental issues, situational contexts at home or school, and unresolved psychological problems. When your child shows signs of emotional crisis and as a way to enhance skills needed to respond better to emotional stressors, use the following life space interviewing approaches. If you find these approaches too difficult, introduce them to school and other professionals working with your child.
Often a child will become emotionally reactive when self-defeating behaviors are at work. Common self-defeating behaviors are: 1) Unresolved issues at home or school; 2) Misperceptions of events; 3) Excessive adolescent pride; 4) Impulsivity or guilt in response; 5) Limited social skills; and, 6) Vulnerability to peer influences, especially if isolated or lonely.
HELPFUL HINTS IN LIFE SPACE INTERVIEWING 1. Be respectful and show you value your child when interacting. 2. Offer emotional support and concrete help to your child when you discover she/he is involved in self-defeating behavior patterns. 3. Remember that when you interact in "hot" situations, your emotional and interpersonal behaviors will stimulate thoughts, feelings and behaviors in your child. So, be careful! 4. Continue to search for and praise any personal strength you find in your child. 5. Use personal strengths to solve problems and stabilize emotions. 6. Learn to use the steps of life space interviewing. (a) De-escalate your child's emotional reactions. (b) With a calm tone of voice, validate her/his perception of the crisis and his/her experienced emotions. (The thoughts may be wrong but emotions are authentic.) (c) Determine if self-defeating behaviors are at work. Help your child reflect on desired goals and actual outcomes of effort. Help your child understand if what she/he is doing is working. (d) Slow down, calm down and discuss self-defeating behavior patterns evident in the situation; (e) Directly teach your child the skills needed to resolve the difficult situation. (f) If the problem is not one to be solved today, teach your child how to maintain a goal for the future and to move on today. 7. Use contingency contracts to reinforce improvements. If you decide to use a contingency contract, it may be best to seek help from a professional in the mental health and/or substance abuse field. Although such contracts can be highly effective in changing behavior, they are not easy to initiate or maintain. Clarification Note: 8. Notice and praise improvements. 9. In ongoing difficult situations, first use your own maturity and skills to assist your child. Also consult with others (other parents, school personnel, professionals) about what to do. 10. If the above process fails to improve the situation, confer with a professional who has knowledge in both more traditional approaches and life space interviewing.
HELPFUL SOURCES OF INFORMATION Wood, M. and Long, N. (1991). Life Space Interviewing. Austin, TX; Pro-Ed; and, Long, N. J. et.al. (1998). Life space crisis intervention. Healing Magazine,3(2), 2-22. |
