Reading: Working with mandated clients
How to engage someone who was sent by a court, employer or child welfare agency.
Reading: Working with mandated clients
What you’ll learn
- Recognize common reactions in clients who are mandated to treatment.
- Be clear about your role while separating the mandate from the conversation.
- Find what the client cares about, and work from there.
Many clients arrive under pressure: from a court or probation officer, a child welfare agency, an employer, or family. Pressure can get someone in the door. What happens next depends a lot on the first conversation.
Common reactions
Mandated clients are often angry, scared, distrustful, or simply going through the motions. They may minimize their use or say what they think you want to hear. These are understandable reactions to losing control over part of their life, not signs that they can’t change.
Be clear about your role
Raise confidentiality and reporting up front. Tell the client what you’ll share, with whom, and why. Clients who learn later that you’re reporting to their probation officer feel deceived, and trust is hard to rebuild. Being transparent from the start shows respect.
Separate the mandate from the conversation
Acknowledge the mandate without letting it run the session: “The court wants you here. What would make this time worthwhile for you?” Then emphasize the choices the client still has, such as what to talk about, what goals to set, and how to use the time. Even inside a mandate, a lot is still up to them.
- “If you don’t do this, you’ll go back to jail.”
- Try“You know better than I do what’s at stake. What would make this time worthwhile for you?”
- “The court says you have a problem.”
- Try“The court is concerned about your drinking. How do you see it?”
- “You need to be honest with me.”
- Try“I’ll be upfront about what I share with your probation officer, so you can decide what to tell me.”
- “I can’t help you if you won’t talk.”
- Try“You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. What would be useful to talk about?”
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| “If you don’t do this, you’ll go back to jail.” | “You know better than I do what’s at stake. What would make this time worthwhile for you?” |
| “The court says you have a problem.” | “The court is concerned about your drinking. How do you see it?” |
| “You need to be honest with me.” | “I’ll be upfront about what I share with your probation officer, so you can decide what to tell me.” |
| “I can’t help you if you won’t talk.” | “You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. What would be useful to talk about?” |
Find what they care about
Look for what matters to the client: their kids, their job, their freedom, their self-respect. Motivation grows from there. Affirm the choices they’ve already made, starting with showing up.
I got some information from your probation officer, but what would really help is to hear from you what’s going on in your life, and how we might help.
The biggest thing is this four-year sentence hanging over me, and all this stuff I have to do to stay out of prison.
You’ve got a lot of pressure on you right now. I wonder if there’s something here you could actually use.
What I need is for my probation officer to get off my back.
I get the sense you’re really committed to yourself and your family. The last thing you want is to end up facing that sentence.
You got that straight.
You could have blown this appointment off, but you didn’t. I’d like to help you make the most of the choices you’ve already made.
Adapted from TIP 35, Exhibit 4.3. The counselor reflects, affirms the client’s commitment to his family and his freedom, and frames showing up as a choice. Nothing here argues about whether he has a problem.
Respond in a way that respects the client’s control over the conversation.
ClientI’ll sit here because I have to, but I’m not talking about my drinking.
Show a model answer
“You’re here because you have to be, and you want some say in what we talk about. That’s fair. What would you want to use this time for?” It accepts the boundary, emphasizes choice, and opens a conversation the client is willing to have.
Key takeaways
- Anger and distrust are understandable reactions to pressure, not proof a client can’t change.
- Be transparent about reporting, then emphasize the choices the client still has.
- Look for what the client cares about, and don’t use consequences as leverage.
Adapted from SAMHSA, TIP 35: Enhancing Motivation for Change in Substance Use Disorder Treatment (2019), chapter 4. Public domain. Open TIP 35, mandated clients