Similarly, it can be helpful for clients to visualise the future should they embark on the change or should they remain the same. Some questions might include:
- ‘What would you like to be doing in two years’ time?’
- ‘What do you think will happen if you keep using? How do you feel about that?’
- ‘If you decided to make a change, what are your hopes for the future?’
- ‘How would you like things to turn out for you?’
- ‘I can see that you’re feeling really frustrated right now… How would you like things to be different?’
- ‘What are your options at the moment?’
- ‘What would be the best results you could imagine, if you make a change?’
- ‘If you were to have a week off from your problems/symptoms, what would you do first?’
As with querying extremes, you could also ask the client to anticipate the future if no changes are made (e.g., ‘Suppose things continue as they are now and you don’t make any changes, what will your life be like in five years from now?’). The difference between looking forward and querying extremes is that in this looking forward method, the AOD worker is asking for the client’s most realistic assessment of the future rather than their imagined ‘extreme’ outcome.
NOTE: Among clients experiencing symptoms of a co-occurring depressive condition, this strategy should be avoided or used with caution [1920].