Using Motivational Interviewing While Working with Ethnic Issues

In this course, Dr. James Rogers works with Lizette, a second-generation Latino. Lizette is the eldest child in her immediate family and is bilingual. Her parents are very traditional Latinos and speak mostly Spanish. Lizette originally sought treatment due to feelings of nervousness, sadness and stated she was experiencing an “identity crisis”. She complained of stomach aches, difficulty sleeping and difficulty with concentration and attention. Lizette is in conflict with her family in part due to the different levels of acculturation between her and her parents. She is becoming more bicultural in terms of her own level of acculturation and this is creating a new set of growth and developmental challenges with respect to how she will define herself as a “Latino”. Lizette has ambitions to move away from home, and is now wishing to move in with her romantic partner instead of moving back home and adhering to the parent's traditional worldviews and expectations. At the same time, she is feeling confused about what this means about her cultural and ethnic identity and sense of being Latino. Dr. Rogers draws from two main theoretical underpinnings: Cross-Cultural Psychology and Motivational Interviewing. Lizette's age, family, cultural background, and developmental stage are all major factors influencing and impacting her experience. Thus cultural competence and cultural sensitivity are factored into Dr. Rodgers' approach with her. Dr. Rodgers also employs Motivational Interviewing with Lizette to help guide her to talk about change. MI is characterised as a person-centred, strength-based approach and James works collaboratively with Lizette as an equal partner in the therapeutic process.