Elmer does not want to be abusive to his wife and wants his marriage to resume. His wife left and is staying in a shelter where she has indicated that she will not come home until Elmer gets some help. Elmer admits to you that abusing his wife was “probably wrong” but seems to resist any ideas about how to go about changing his behavior. 

(a) What are some interviewing techniques you might use to help Elmer at this point? 

(b) How responsible is the case manager for Elmer changing his behavior? 

(c) Should the case manager be actively involved in getting Elmer to change and the wife to come back home? Yes? How active? No?

Looking at the techniques you learned in this chapter, decide what techniques and skills would be best to use in each of these situations.