Elmer does not want to be abusive to his wife and wants his marriage to resume. His wife left and is staying in a shelter where she has indicated that she will not come home until Elmer gets some help. Elmer admits to you that abusing his wife was “probably wrong” but seems to resist any ideas about how to go about changing his behavior.

1. What are some interviewing techniques you might use to help Elmer at this point?

Answer:  Self-refection would be one techniques I could use as well as discrepancies that may be causes him to continue to abuse his wife.

2. How responsible is the case manager for Elmer changing his behavior?

Answer:  She is just as responsible as Elmer, but I would say she has more of a responsible to the safety of the wife. Rather Elmer is more responsible to his recovery and getting help to stop being abusive.

3. Should the case manager be actively involved in getting Elmer to change and the wife to come back home? Yes? How active? No?

Answer: No, the goal should be keeping the wife safe and making sure that Elemer doesn’t counite to abuse her. It is the wife’s and Elmer decisions optimality to decide whether to stay together.