Working with Adolescents

1. HCS321
Working with Adolescents

2. Agenda
■ What do we need to know when working with adolescents?
■ Relationship Building
■ Ways of Working

3. ‘Professionals working with adolescents enter their roles
through a number of different pathways and therefore
have backgrounds in a range of fields including social work,
education, public health and community education. Some
youth workers enter the profession without formal
education and training and gain knowledge and skills on
the job (Bowie et al., 2006); others are "dropped" into
situations to provide support to adolescents without
adequate preparation or supervision’
(Wilson-Ahlstrom,Yohalem, & Pittman, 2008).

4. What we need to know when working with
adolescents
■ What is adolescence? Definitions vary.
■ An understanding of adolescent development
(physical, brain, cognitive, sexual, identity and social)
■ An understanding of the individuality

5. Relationship Building
■ Most young people identify their vulnerability in relationship terms - the
importance of the relationship defines the level of vulnerability they feel, and the
risk they are willing to take.
■ If the relationship is important then the vulnerability and the risk is worth it....
■ Workers who can form sustainable and valued relationships will be more
effective.

6. Playfulness
Acceptance
Curious questioning
Empathy
State Government of Victoria (2012) Adolescents and their families
Best interests case practice model
Specialist practice resource. Retrieved from
http://www.cpmanual.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Adolescents%20%26%20their%
20families%20specialist%20practice%20resource%202012%203003%20.pdf

7. Being genuine, is about being personable - it
doesn’t mean denying your role, your age,
your responsibilities, but putting yourself
and the young person your talking with as
central.

8. Retrieved from; State Government of Victoria (2012) Adolescents and their families Best interests case practice model Specialist practice resource

9. Ways of Working: Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing is;
 Non-judgemental, non confrontational and non-adversarial.
 It accepts client reluctance to change as natural
 It allows workers to influence or direct clients to consider
discrepancy and choice for change

10. Motivational Interviewing Techniques
■ Open-ended questions
■ Affirmations
■ Reflective listening
■ Summaries

11. Ways of working: Innovation in delivery of
‘case management’ with adolescents
■ Think outside the box, be innovative
■ Change your ‘usual’ approach
■ Remember what it was like to be a teen
■ Practice transparency