The most effective way to help Josiah make informed decisions about his sexual behavior is to use motivational interviewing (MI) techniques. In particular, I believe it would be appropriate to use querying about the extremes by asking Josiah what changes will happen if he continues his risky sexual behavior. Such a talk can help to emphasize the importance of practicing safe sex and set up a change talk that will demonstrate the best consequences of the desired behavior (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). The dialogue can be as follows:
Human Service Professional Practitioner (HSPP): So, Josiah, what do you think about your sexual behavior? How healthy do you think it is?
Josiah: I am fully satisfied with my current sexual behavior. I am unsure about how healthy it is, but I think it is OK. Well, everybody else around me acts the same way.
HSPP: And what do you think can happen if you continue to change partners frequently and have unprotected sex?
Josiah: I guess someone can get pregnant and will force to have an abortion.
HSPP: And what do you think about the consequences for your own health?
Josiah: Well, I can get STDs.
HSPP: What do you think are the odds of either of these outcomes considering that you have several alcoholic beverages before every sexual act?
Josiah: Now that I think of it, the odds are pretty high, actually. I was nervous several times that will not be able to stop at the right moment. Sometimes, girls tell me that they are on a pill, but I have no way of knowing that. And about STDs, yes, that is also very likely.
The example provided above shows that MI can be effective in the case of Josiah. MI is an assessment method that aims at identifying the clients’ needs in an unstructured way. According to DiClemente et al. (2017), MI is based upon the guiding style of communication, which requires good listening skills and directing clients to improve their current well-being. MIs empower people by helping them build capacity and desire to change (DiClemente et al., 2017). MIs pay respect to the clients’ autonomy and facilitate the natural process of change in a respectful manner (DiClemente et al., 2017). However, MIs are not designed to get people to change; instead, it is an alternative to traditional assessment methods that build on the spirit of evocation, partnership, acceptance, and compassion (DiClemente et al., 2017). This dialogue shows that, instead of lecturing Josiah about his behavior, MI evoked change from within, which is more effective than just lecturing about the consequences of unsafe sex.
References
DiClemente, C. C., Corno, C. M., Graydon, M. M., Wiprovnick, A. E., & Knoblach, D. J. (2017). Motivational interviewing, enhancement, and brief interventions over the last decade: A review of reviews of efficacy and effectiveness. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 31(8), 862.
Miller, W., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.