Pic 14: The screen changes to a slide titled “Examples of Reflections.” A conversation told through text bubbles appears between a parent and a health coach.

Parent: I’m too tired at the end of the day to worry about cooking healthy meals. But I do hate that we spend so much money eating out. 

Health Coach: You’d prefer to find a way to eat more meals at home.

Parent: Maybe we can at least eat at home on the weekends. And that’ll give us some leftovers for during the week. 

Pic 15: The screen changes to a new slide with the same title. It contains a new conversation between a parent and a health coach.

Parent: I know I shouldn’t, but sometimes I give in and get her a treat just to stop the whining.

Health Coach: You’d like to have a better response ready when she asks you for a treat. 

Parent: What do you think I can say?

Eva (voiceover): While you should be careful not to ask too many open-ended questions in a row and should try not to provide information more than once or twice in a brief conversation, reflections can be used frequently to show you’re supportive and engaged. 

Now let’s look at some example responses and see which are the most effective reflections that promote change talk. 

Pic 17: The screen transitions to a slide titled “Identify Reflections Questions.” There is an example statement and three example responses. The example statement reads “I don’t like how much TV Sophie watches with her friends. But I don’t want to be the only mom saying ‘no.’”

• The other moms aren’t concerned about the amount of TV their children are watching.
  • This reflection encourages the parent notto change, by focusing on how common this behavior is.
• You don’t want Sophie to feel different from her friends.
  • This response is reflecting a reason not to change.
• You’re uncomfortable with how much TV Sophie and her friends watch.
  • This is a good response. It’s effective to remind this mom that she doesn’t like how much TV Sophie watches, even if the other moms don’t seem to mind. 

Pic 18: The screen transitions to the next example statement and responses. This example statement reads “Jordan loves his junk food. No matter what I serve, he only wants the prepackaged junk.”

• It sounds like you don’t like the food Jordan is choosing.
  • This is good! By focusing on what this parent doesn’t like about their son’s eating habits, this response helps move them in the direction of change.
• Jordan eats a lot of junk food.
  • This is a truthful reflection, but it doesn’t move the conversation in the direction of change. A reflection of change talk, like “You don’t like the food he chooses,” echoes the parent’s desire for change and could elicit more change talk.
• Why do you let Jordan eat so much junk food?
  • This is a question, not a reflection, and could easily come across as accusatory. It would be more productive to reflect change talk, which could build some momentum toward change.

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