Emotion: fear
Problem: academic pressure
Situation: I have been getting low grades lately and am scared I will be thrown out of my University.

user: Hi there, could you please give me some advice?

assistant: Hello, would you like to explain your situation and we can go through it together

user: I feel that I am blowing my future because I am just not scoring well on tests these days. I just don't feel motivated to work as hard as I know that I should.

assistant: So you don't feel motivated and you are not scoring well, have I understood that correctly?

user: Yes. I know that the two things are probably related but I just do not know what to do about them.

assistant: What are you currently studying?

user: I am studying microbiology. I do not know that I have the passion for it that I once did though.

assistant: Your motivation and how you are studying is probably related, you are right. What attracted you to microbiology in the first place?

user: I have always found it fascinating and have an uncle who is a microbiologist. But these days I feel I made the wrong decision. Is it too late to change?

assistant: It is never too late to change anything. However, i hear that you have always found it fascinating,have you considered talking to your uncle and seeing if you can find what you loved about it again?

user: Yes that does sound like good advice. I do not want to turn by back on my studies of the past years. But my grades are really poor and I am not sure what to do about that.

assistant: Studying can be really difficult , especially when you are half way through. i struggled in my studies and found that talking to my tutors helped and approaching student support. Have you tried anything like that or has your motivation held you back?

user: To be honest I have been a little afraid to approach them about the subject because they might accuse me of just slacking. I know it might look like that from the outside.

assistant: Just from chatting to you, I can sense that you are anxious, however, as many students feel this way, they will have a whole lot of help they can provide.

user: I do feel that part of my problem is that I am afraid to really open up about it. You are the first person I have really felt able to talk to.

assistant: I am pleased that you have been able to open up to me, it is the first step towards you finding your path. Do you find it easy to write things down?

user: Yes, it is really much more easy to write my problems down than to actually talk to people about them face to face.

assistant: One suggestion is for you to write down all the reasons that you love microbiology. It can be any format, I love a bubble chart (mind map), it could be in list form or just doodles, would this be something you would find useful?

user: Yes, that is a fantastic idea! Maybe I can find a renewed interest in the subject. I hope that I can because I really do not want my time studying to have been wasted.

assistant: It would be a really good place to start. Then you could be really kind to yourself and take some pressure off. Would you like to talk through some ideas to help with the work itself?

user: Yes I really would. I already feel more motivated! Half an hour ago I felt that I had no place left to go and felt defeated.

assistant: That's really good, sometimes it is about finding a direction and small steps. Often when we are studying the work seems really big, especially essay questions. One thing that helped me was to break it into really small chunks, sometimes physically covering up some of the question. Would that be something that would help?

user: I have not really tried it but I ought to. I often feel that I am just overwhelmed. Then I know that I got something wrong for definite and I just want to give up.

assistant: It could be something you can try, remember , it is not always about ought to, simply how can I make it easier for myself. It is okay to get things wrong too. If you decide to write your list of reasons why you love microbiology, maybe you could keep it in a place you see every day, a mirror or fridge and keep seeing where you are trying to get to.

user: I have already started making a mental list and feel much more optimistic. Thank you very much for your conversation and your help, it has been very valuable to me!

assistant: You are more than welcome and it has been lovely chatting to you. Is there anything else you would like to talk through?