Assignment: Healthy risk-taking behaviors

Assignment: Healthy risk-taking behaviors
Assignment: Healthy risk-taking behaviors
· Select a colleague who was assigned a different client than you. Offer and support at least two counseling strategies he or she might use to establish a trusting relationship with his or her adolescent client. Support your response with authentic observations/experiences and the current literature.
· Select a colleague who was assigned the same client as you. Expand on his or her posting by describing how you might integrate the parents/caretakers into the adolescent’s treatment plan while also maintaining a trusting relationship with the adolescent.
· Select a colleague who was assigned the same or different client family from you. Offer and support at least two strategies he or she might use to encourage healthy risk-taking behaviors with their adolescent client.
1. (A. Wit)
Teenagers, as a population, can be bold, defiant, ambitious, and the source of many parents’ concerns. Between middle-childhood and early-adulthood individuals face many biological, cognitive, and social changes. In this post, I will highlight the impact of risky behavior on adolescent development. First, I will introduce how risky behavior is impacting the Martinez family. Second, I will explain the impact of risky behavior on development and the family system. Finally, I will make suggestions on how counselors can approach adolescent clients and their families.
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Presenting issues
My client is the Martinez family. The focus of today’s visit is the conflict between mother, Jeanette, and 16-year-old daughter, Gabby. The Martinez family are devout Seventh Day Adventists (Laureate Education, 2013). Jeannette is furious with Gabby for becoming sexually active. Not only is teenage sex a risky-behavior, it also goes against the family’s religious beliefs. In the session, Jeanette verbally berates Gabby into silence. When Jeanette leaves the room, Gabby breaks down in tears. Gabby says she loves her boyfriend, but she regrets becoming sexually active so young. Gabby is distressed by feeling like a disappointment to her parents and God.
Gabby, like many other teenagers in this developmental stage, is engaging in risky behavior that impacts her relationships and self-image. Risky behaviors, including sex, dramatically increase during adolescence (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). The vast majority of individuals engage in some type of risky behavior during their teenage years (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Protective factors for Gabby include her immediate and extended family and her religion. Current prevention and intervention models for adolescents prioritize youth’s family and community resources (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015).