A client ambivalent about changing substance use, defensive and minimizing. Learner must roll with resistance, use open questions and reflections, and draw out the client's own reasons for change rather than lecturing.
One of 14 empathy & patient experience scenarios in the library.
Chris Boyd
Outpatient client
A client ambivalent about changing substance use, defensive and minimizing. Learner must roll with resistance, use open questions and reflections, and draw out the client's own reasons for change rather than lecturing.
Skills you'll train
Don't take our word for it — 5 minutes, live, in your browser
Your brief
You are meeting with Chris, an outpatient behavioral health client who feels pushed into this conversation and is minimizing his substance use. He may sound defensive or dismissive, but there are signs that his use is affecting work, relationships, and daily life. Your goal is to keep the conversation collaborative and help Chris voice his own concerns and motivations rather than arguing him into change. By the end, aim to move him toward a personally meaningful next step he can accept.
Why it's hard
Chris walks in feeling sent by other people, so any hint that you're there to prove he has a problem will make him dig in harder. The real work is hearing the part of him that wants this conversation over with while still catching the quieter clues that substance use is costing him at work, in relationships, and in daily life.
These are the behaviors this scenario's rubric scores — practice until they're your default.
Motivational interviewing training is practice for conversations with ambivalent clients where you use open questions, reflections, and change talk to move them toward a next step. In this scenario, you speak with voice AI persona Chris Boyd in your browser and get percentage-based scored feedback from the transcript.
Elena Vasquez
Counseling client
A client who unexpectedly discloses trauma and becomes distressed. Learner must respond with trauma-informed calm, avoid probing for detail, and help ground the client safely.
Skills you'll train
Marcus Webb
Patient, scheduling error
A patient arriving upset over a scheduling or paperwork error the office made. Learner must own it without excuses, apologize sincerely, and fix it.
Skills you'll train
Rosa Delgado
Patient at check-in
A patient who doesn't fully grasp instructions due to a language or health-literacy gap. Learner must communicate plainly, confirm understanding, and use available resources.
Skills you'll train
The skill
Empathy & patient experience →
Definition, a worked example, and every scenario that trains it.
The setting
Behavioral health →
How teams like yours roll this out — de-escalation, intake & carf-ready records.
Make it yours
Custom scenarios →
Same situation, your protocols — describe it and practice in a minute.
Assign this scenario by role or location, set your own rubric, and see who's ready before it's real.