Louisa, a 15-year-old Mexican American, heterosexual female, who was removed from the custody of her mother following allegations of sexual abuse by the mother's boyfriend. Louisa now resides in a neighboring town with her aunt and uncle. Louisa avoids the use of social media and has little to no contact with her friends. Louisa recently enrolled in a new school, and her teachers describe her as withdrawn and depressed. Her teachers are unaware of her situation. However, several of them have made a referral to you, a social worker in the school-based behavioral health program. According to the referrals, Louisa is failing several of her courses and asks regularly to be excused from class, to be seen by the school nurse for aches and pains. The school nurse has also made a referral to you as a school social worker.

Assume for the moment that this is your first encounter with "Louisa." Try your best to show that you can utilize Motivational Interviewing (MI) to get "Louisa" interested in 10 to 15 minutes. While meeting with "Louisa," please try your best to represent MI and keep in mind how important it is to highlight "Louisa's" independence. Don't forget to go over "Louisa's" right to privacy and the parameters of secrecy at the beginning of the meeting. Kindly try your best to use the fundamental skills taught in MI. Throughout the interaction, let "Louisa" know that you are paying attention and trying to understand her through your reflections. Try not to go through each phase too rapidly. Never forget how crucial it is to interact before concentrating. Recall that evoking comes before planning. Avoid attempting to "fix" anything. Spend some time getting to know "Louisa's" worries from her point of view..