Sociology Assignment: Decisional Balance With A Client

Question

Task:
Case Scenario: Gustavo
You continue to provide support to Gustavo, and he has made many positive advances in his life. He is working in the restaurant and although it has been difficult, he has managed to achieve his goal of sobriety through abstinence for 6 months now. He has found an AA group that he likes and attends on a regular basis. He has also connected with a sponsor through AA who has been very helpful. Gustavo reports feeling better but admits that he continues to fight the temptation to drink/use. He is still living in a house with a roommate who parties a lot and so he is surrounded by a lot of drinking and drug use. Four months ago, Gustavo reconnected with some friends he made when he first arrived in Canada and through this friend group, he was introduced to Charles. The 2 have been dating for 3 months now. Charles is a 45-year-old divorced father of 2 boys, ages 10 and 12, and one 15-year-old girl. Charles shares joint custody of the children with his ex-wife. The relationship has been developing and Gustavo and Charles are contemplating living together in Charles’s house. Gustavo gets along fairly well with Charles’s children but is worried about his potential role as a step co-parent. Gustavo doesn’t always agree with how Charles parents and this is causing some tension. Also, Charles drinks alcohol on a regular basis and sometimes uses drugs. Although Charles never puts any pressure on Gustavo to drink or use drugs, Gustavo is worried that this might be too great a temptation and that he might break down and drink or use drugs again. Gustavo thinks there may be a good future ahead with Charles but is feeling very stressed out right now. He is wondering if he is rushing into things too quickly.

Gustavo has asked you to weigh in on whether he should move in with Charles. You, as a wise SSW, realize that this is an important decision and so decide to suggest working through a decisional balance with Gusatvo.

Sociology Assignment Task
1. The first step in using the decisional balance with a client is to introduce/explain it. Before you start the intervention with Gustavo, he needs to have information about the intervention e.g., an understanding of how a decisional balance chart is set up, what the process is for completing it etc. As if you were speaking directly to Gustavo provide me with an audio recording of your explanation/instructions for the decisional balance task that you plan to do with Gustavo.
2. Provide a sample of the decisional balance chart that you would use with Gustavo. Your chart needs to be clearly labelled - make sure that you label the chart specific to Gustavo’s situation. You do not need to provide any information/content in the different section categories.

Answer

Hello Gustavo, I hope you are doing well, today we will be discussing the situation and the decision that you are required to make. In this decisional balance with a client as provided herein sociology assignment, we will analyse the situation and the pros and cons of both sides of the situation in case you take the decision and in case you do not take the decision. The analysis will be done through the utilisation of the decisional balance chart that we will plan today. A decisional balance tool is a motivational tool that we use for our patients to deal with ambivalence. It allows the patient to move forward through the stages of change. The use of the tool is majorly done in a situation of contemplation or pre-contemplation.

The patient can visualise where he or she wants to be through the use of the decisional balance and it includes the focus towards the acknowledgement by the patient where he or she wants to be. It allows the patient to know whether the current behaviour is helping the patient to move towards the desired goals or not. A tool is an effective tool for coaching the individual that allows taking the decisions rationally. Hence, I request you to coordinate and focus on the decisional balance chart that will allow us to make the appropriate decision regarding moving in with Mr Charles. The decisional balance chart is formed through the utilisation of 4 quadrants that majorly asks the 4 questions related to the decision or behaviour. The 2 quadrants represent the sustain talk and the rest 2 represent the change talk.

The sustain talk will include good things linked with not moving together with Mr Charles and not so good things about moving in with Mr Charles. The change talk includes the good things about not moving in and the bad things about not moving in with Mr Charles. It includes the benefits and drawbacks that will allow you to appropriately take the decision regarding moving in with Mr Charles. The chart will include the focus on the sustain talk first that will provide with the benefits of sustaining the current situation as you are currently not living in together with Mr Charles what are all the benefits linked with the situation or what are the good things like the privacy you get and it allows you to stay away from the alcohol and drugs that are consumed in front of you. It somewhere stimulates the desire to consume alcohol and drugs in you. The next portion of sustaining the decision of living without Mr Charles includes the drawbacks related to living alone; it includes the lack of security and the feeling of being alienated.

The information is required to be provided with an in-depth analysis of the situation by you that will provide us with a better scenario. Another column is then required to be considered that includes the focus towards the decision linked with the change that is the benefits of shifting with Mr Charles like you will get the company to communicate and share the feelings, it will allow enhancing your relationship and plan for future. The decision to live and move in together is further required to be analysed from another angle of drawbacks too. All four of the scenarios will further facilitate the decision making and will allow us to appropriately make a rational choice. I am providing you with a template of the decisional chart that you are required to fill and then with the help of the analysis and the completed chart we can take the decisions accurately. The decisional chart allows the individual to weigh the possible actions against one another based on the probabilities, benefits and drawbacks, etc.

Template to be used in this sociology assignment