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Significant changes in attitudes, behaviours, and thoughts are required if one wants to
develop and become a better version of themselves, since this will lay the groundwork for
good health results. This point is fully made in the "Transtheoretical Model" of change,
which two researchers, Prochaska and DiClemente, created in the 1970s based on many
psychological theories. The transtheoretical model illustrates the several stages of change
that people experience when they learn new habits that will improve their quality of life.
The stages of the transtheoretical model of change include: precontemplation,
contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance (LaMorte, 2019). Utilizing approaches
like motivational interviewing, which allow participants to work together to establish health
outcomes and put action plans in place to accomplish them, healthcare providers assist
patients in moving through the various stages. This paper will discuss the scenario of
Claudia, a 20-year-old who came had an appointment with health care professionals (HCP) is
currently in her second year of a bachelor’s degree at a university and recently found out
that she is pregnant and addicted with alcohol abuse.

According to the scenario given about Claudia, when determining the stage of Erikson’s
stage of development, several stages can be represented in this paper However, in Claudia’s
case, it could be argued that she is in the stage of early and emerging adulthood, which is
20–40 years old. This stage is also known as the intimacy vs. isolation stage. At this stage,
emerging adolescents and teenagers seek out intimate ties with important people they may
trust in greater numbers at this time. They must build connections that will enable them to
admit their weaknesses (Maree, 2020). The behaviour she is engaging in is an example of
intimacy vs isolation because she knows that she is pregnant and has a long-term boyfriend,
and because of her pregnancy she might have the fear that her boyfriend will not accept her
as pregnant. She is a university student, so she may be under peer pressure and fear of
losing her friends, which could explain her drinking habits. This is the stage when someone
can become emotionally lonely and fear rejection or disappointment, or they want
friendship and personal affection with other peers (Deb, 2020).

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a cooperative conversational approach for enhancing an

individual's internal drive and willingness to change. It is intended to address the difficulties
that frequently occur when a helper enters another person's drive for change (Rosengren,
2018). There are four spirits of motivational interviewing, which are: partnership,
acceptance, compassion, and evocation. Among all the spirit of motivational interviewing, I
would like to use the partnership in Claudia’s scenario. As partnership is one of the initial
four essential components of the motivational interviewing technique that engages the
clients, in MI, partnership is carried out "for" and "with" a certain individual. This MI
technique focuses mostly on investigation, encouragement, curiosity, and participation
instead of judgments and argumentation (Miller & Rollnick, 2012). As a health care
professional (HCP), building rapport during therapeutic contacts is difficult and is one of the
most important aspects of effective communication (Mallisham & Sherrod, 2017). In the
scenario of Claudia, first I would like to make her feel comfortable by setting up a nice
environment for her interview and will introduce myself so that it’s easy for her to talk with
me and share her problems. A strong rapport is necessary for an open dialogue, a useful

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comprehension of the patient's behaviour, and their willingness to change. Sometimes

rapport is rapidly formed or restored, and the agenda is frequently clear (Mason, 2019).
While having a conversation with Claudia, it is very important that we do not say anything
that triggers her. After building a good rapport, I would like to focus on Claudia’s situation
and concerns, which are her drinking habits and her pregnancy, because it will allow me to
develop a specific direction in our conversation. It is important to listen to Claudia’s
concerns and to learn about her plans and goals which she is trying to achieve in her life by
quitting drinking alcohol and make plans and agendas according to her goals (Miller &
Rollnick, 2012).

Additionally, as a healthcare practitioner, working with Claudia to assist her in her journey
and using a MI technique is very important. When using the MI technique, we can always
make use of OARS, which stands for open-ended questions and affirmations (to offer
support), reflections (to repeat back what Claudia said), and summaries (if I understand you
correctly, you're interested in a solution to your current alcohol intake that is harming your
pregnancy? As part of the MI, we should always build a good rapport with Claudia so that it
is more comfortable for her to open and ask her some open-ended questions like why she
thinks or believes that she should quit drinking alcohol (Paz, 2019). As HCP, we must be
aware of the variables that may contribute to Claudia's situation by taking a nonjudgmental
attitude and encouraging Claudia to talk about her situation and motivations for using drugs
to efficiently assist Claudia (Hamilton, 2020). Claudia should be supervised by HCP because
alcohol withdrawal symptoms can be fatal. Furthermore, collaboration with Claudia in her
journey is very important as Claudia will be the one who makes decisions. As HCP, our duty
is to support every aspect of Claudia and set SMART goals, which are specific, measurable,
attainable, relevant, and timely goals for her to move towards the maintenance stage.

When Claudia is fully ready to make a change, she will move onto the maintenance phase,
where she must develop a strong commitment to see her individual behavioural change
through to completion. Addiction behaviour modification is a difficult procedure that places
significant expectations on motivation (Senn et al., 2021). Likewise, as Claudia prepared her
mind and started setting a goal to quit her drinking habits, she might face many difficulties
in the early stages. As an HCP, it is crucial to provide coping mechanisms for Claudia in case
she has obstacles to establishing good habits and appreciating every little step and every
small achievement. Moreover, as an HCP, it is very essential that Claudia gets enough
support and services that will distract her from drinking. As an HCP, it is necessary to refer
Claudia to different organisations and services to engage in different community
participation. As Claudia also found out that she is pregnant, it is important to improve her
habits by addressing the barriers, regular diagnosis, and advice for healthy health practises
throughout pregnancy (Gance-Cleveland et al., 2019). regular follow-up with the midwife to
check how her pregnancy journey is going. On her journey with Claudia, HCP can refer her to
many appropriate services as it is very important for her to connect with her boyfriend,
friends, as well as family members who will be able to support her emotionally in her new
journey (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016).

More and more, the idea of resilience is being used in the treatment and prevention of drug
use disorders. Resilience is the capacity to bounce back quickly after adversity, trauma,
tragedy, or other substantial sources of stress, such as issues with family or wellbeing.

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Resilience has four components, and each of them helps clients or patients recover from
trauma, stress, or any other addiction and helps achieve the desired goal in life (Citrin &
Weiss, 2016). Because resiliency has the potential to be a protective factor against
substance abuse disorders, the relationship between resiliency and alcohol use is important
for addiction psychology (Bernard et al., 2021). Medical condition known as drug use
disorder is defined by clinically substantial limitations in one's ability to regulate one's use of
substances, function in social situations, and maintain one's health. When treating someone
for an alcohol use problem, a variety of factors, including the patient's motivation for
treatment, the likelihood of relapse, and the seriousness of any co-existing illnesses, should
be taken into consideration (Alim et al., 2012). Being resilient in Claudia's situation will
enable her to deal with stress and discover solutions to get through challenging moments
without succumbing to the urge to use drugs or alcohol as a support.

To conclude, the transtheoretical model of change is an effective guide that aids healthcare
professionals in the influence of clients' transitions into healthy lifestyles. The
transtheoretical model of change illustrates the several phases a person must go through to
transform themselves and lead a healthy lifestyle. Claudia was in the preparation stage as
she wanted to stop drinking alcohol and found out that she was pregnant but was not sure
how to do it. Motivational interviewing using the OARS technique can help Claudia to
achieve her goal that she has set in her life. As an HCP, it is very important that you avoid
offending your client and ensure that we do respect for our client’s dignity and opinions and
help them achieve their goal set for the future. The therapeutic communication used by HCP
had a significant impact on Claudia’s life, and she may stop drinking alcohol. Through this
methodology, we as HCP aimed to prevent future health complications in Claudia’s life.

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REFERENCES

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