Goal Planning: A Strengths-Based Approach to Working … · Goal Planning: A Strengths-Based...

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Goal Planning: A Strengths-Based Approach to Working with Women By LissaSamantaraya-Shivji & Melina deKoninck Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter

Transcript of Goal Planning: A Strengths-Based Approach to Working … · Goal Planning: A Strengths-Based...

Goal Planning: A Strengths-Based

Approach to Working with Women

By Lissa Samantaraya-Shivji

&

Melina deKoninck

Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter

Overview

• A foundation of beliefs in action

• An introduction to goal planning

• The process

• ‘Our’ results

• What we are learning

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Values and Beliefs

• Values

– Respect

– Responsibility

• Individual

• Social

– Integrity

– Empowerment

• Beliefs

– FV is a deliberate choice

– Victims resist abuse

– All individuals have

strengths and abilities

– FV affects us all

– All individuals have a

right to live free of

actual or threatened

violence

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An Organizational Shift…

• Building on our beliefs – key concepts

– We operate from a client-centred approach,

honouring the expertise of each individual

– We believe in working from a strengths-based

perspective, because all individuals have inherent

strengths and abilities

– Our work together is goal-oriented, supporting

individuals and families in their efforts to live free

from family violence and abuse

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Bridging our ‘talk’ and ‘walk’

• What’s changed?

– Policies

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Bridging our ‘talk’ and ‘walk’

• What’s changed?

– Policies

– Procedures

• Clinical work with clients

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Working with clients

• Response-based approach

– Highlights what victims do to oppose abuse and

maintain their dignity

– Encourages perpetrators to see their abusive

behaviour as a choice, and therefore within their

control

• “I realize that if I am making this many choices

about what to throw, I can make the choice

not to throw things at all.”

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Bridging our ‘talk’ and ‘walk’

• What’s changed?

– Policies

– Procedures

• Clinical work with clients

• Communication

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Bridging our ‘talk’ and ‘walk’

• What’s changed?

– Policies

– Procedures

• Clinical work with clients

• Communication

• Fundraising

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Bridging our ‘talk’ and ‘walk’

• What’s changed?

– Policies

– Procedures

• Clinical work with clients

• Communication

• Fundraising

• Program evaluation and research

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Shifts in Program Evaluation

• OLD thinking

– Deficit focused; ‘what is the client lacking?’

– Does not appreciate clients expertise prior to program/service (fixed)

– Little flexibility re: outcomes (the client fits or doesn’t fit)

• Service providers decide the end goal

• NEW thinking

– Clients have skills, strengths, and abilities that we need to acknowledge and build on

– Work with where the client is at and where the client wants to go

– Outcomes are broader but still focused on our mission

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Goal Planning

• Goal Planning

– Goal setting theory by Locke

– Draws on solution-focused work (see De Jong and

Kim Berg)

– Goal planning/setting in counselling (see Dyer &

Vriend, 1977)

– Research re: goal setting in populations of DV

offenders, but less so with victims

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Goal Planning

• Goal planning (Latham & Budworth, 2007)

– Choice – focus efforts activities that will help the

individual reach their goal

– Effort –individuals’ efforts to attain their goal increase,

therefore likelihood of success increases

– Persistence – ensures greater ability to work through

setbacks because there is an anchored goal

– Cognition – individuals become more mindful of what

they want to achieve, which may lead to changes in

behaviour

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Goal Setting in the CS

• Goal Setting in the Community Services (CS)

– Includes Community Counselling, Outreach

Programs (crisis and follow-up counselling)

• Guidelines for Goal Setting

– Goals are identified and measured by the positive

changes clients want to see – not the absence of a

negative

– Goals need to focus on what the client is able to

do themselves

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Goal Setting in the CS

• Guidelines for Goal Setting…

– Goals need to be ‘SMART’

– Goals need to be mutually agreed on by client and

counsellor

– Goals are often systemic

– All clients have inherent strengths, skills, and

abilities that they draw on to work toward their

goals

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Goal Planning as Evaluation

• Goal planning is traditionally a tool that allows

the client and counsellor to focus their time

and resources together to achieve success,

BUT…

– Also useful as an evaluation tool

• Combined with a quantitative progress scale measured

at intervals throughout service

• Use qualitative ‘check-ins’ that support progress to

date, and continued success

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Starting the process – Initial Goal Setting…

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Our Outcomes

• Women increase their knowledge of safety issues

• Women increase their knowledge and awareness of family violence abuse issues

• Women increase their ability to access and connect with community resources

• Women increase/strengthen their emotional health and well-being

• Women increase their support network and develop healthy, supportive relationships

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At Initial Goal Setting…

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Getting Started

• Lead-in questions/framing

– How will things be different?

– What will you do instead?

– How did you figure out how to do that?

– What do you want to see change?

– How would that be helpful?

– What’s the best way I can help you?

– What’s the most important thing to you?

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At 3 Month Review…

At 6 Month Review …

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At 9 Month Review…

At Discharge…

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Follow Up Questions

• My Counsellor

– helped me identify my strengths, skills, and

abilities

– trusted me as the expert on what I needed and

wanted

– was responsive to my needs and goals as they

changed over time

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Follow Up Questions

• What did you learn about yourself through the

process that helped you make successful, or

positive changes?

• What strengths and resources will you use to

continue experiencing success, or continue

striving towards your goals, now that you have

completed the program?

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Preliminary Results

• Aggregate scores for Outreach/CRC

– Initial rating = 3.69 (n=54)

– 3 month rating = 5.68 (n=50)

– 6 month rating = 5.85 (n=20)

– 9 month rating = 8.33 (n=3)

– Discharge rating = 7.5 (n=8)

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Safety Goals

• Example

– “Assuring of my personal safety and (my) rights in

my living situation”

• 95% rated themselves greater than a 1 at

initial rating, suggesting clients believe they

have a foundation of skills re: safety (n=19)

• Average at initial rating = 4.3

• Average at last available rating = 6.8

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Healthy Relationships Goals

• Example

– “To know what a good relationship looks like”

• 93% rated themselves greater than a 1 at

initial rating, suggesting clients believe they

have a foundation of skills re: healthy

relationships (n=14)

• Average at initial rating = 3.9

• Average at last available rating = 6.9

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Emotional Health Goals

• Examples

– “Identify my strengths and explore personal options”

– “Create a balanced lifestyle and feel grounded and

confident in (my) decision making”

• 88% rated themselves greater than a 1 at initial

rating, suggesting clients believe they have a

foundation of skills re: emotional health (n=33)

• Average at initial rating = 3.5

• Average at last available rating = 6.4

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Community Supports Goals

• Examples– Getting knowledge of all the resources for baby

supplies so when babies are born, I will have everything they need

– Affordable housing

• 94% rated themselves greater than a 1 at initial rating, suggesting clients believe they have a foundation of skills re: community supports (n=18)

• Average at initial rating = 3.8

• Average at last available rating = 5.9

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Family Violence Goals

• Examples

– Get a lawyer to represent me

– Escape from (abusive) relationship complete

• 88% rated themselves greater than a 1 at initial rating, suggesting clients believe they have a foundation of skills re: family violence issues (n=8)

• Average at initial rating = 3.3

• Average at last available rating = 7.4

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Follow Up Results

• My counsellor

– 98% - helped me identify my strengths, skills, and

abilities

– 98% - trusted me as the expert on what I needed

and wanted

– 93% - was responsive to my needs and goals as

they changed over time

• “I am stronger than I give myself credit for. I am able

to do it even though I feel weak sometimes.”

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Trends

• When asked to focus on what they could

change, fewer clients focused on family

violence than expected

• Majority of clients recognize their skills

strengths, and abilities at initial rating

• Not all clients reach 10 by program

completion

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What Counsellors Say…

• Successes:

– Goal setting is very empowering; self-esteem is

built through small successes

– Helps us to know when client is ready to leave the

program

– Keeps counsellors and clients focused

– Maintains the role of the counsellor and the

boundaries between counsellor and client

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What Counsellors Say…

• Challenges

– Clients can focus on the negative, and may have

difficulty articulating goals in positive terms

– Goal planning as a process can be very difficult

with clients who have little or no English

– Clients and their motivation to reach their goals

varies greatly

– Abstract ideas can be hard to measure and shape

into goals

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What Clients Say…

• “My knowledge of resources has grown thus I

know where to get the support I need if

needed. Affirmation of me being the director

of my life.”

• “I have become more aware of my goals and

my confidence.”

• “Nobody can stop me now.”

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Tips

• Goal planning is successful when…

– It is important to start goal planning early

– Goals should be important to the client and focus

on what they can change (let the client lead)

– You can always add goals

– Start small

– Be positive!

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Getting Creative

Create a goals book Write goals on a notecard

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Getting Creative

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What We’ve Learned

• New form aggregates client goals

– Streamline paperwork for counsellors and clients

– Visible tracking of goal progress over time

– Encourages multiple, manageable goals

– Still important to ask clarifying questions

• Added goal area

– Life skills goals

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What We’ve Learned

• Creating a form

linked to

program on OT

• Intervals of

measurement

are not fixed –

measuring

often keeps

you focused on

goals

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Going forward

• Goals must be specific

– Next step is to help clients ‘hone/own’ the skill

– Use questions to determine specificity

• More specific analysis

• Develop plain language tools to support

counsellors with clients who speak little or no

English

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Successes of Goal Planning

• Successes

– Goals are individualized; the client is in control

– A powerful tool that builds self-esteem

– Focuses the time together and works toward a

goal

– Goal planning “really captures what we do” in the

program – facilitate and empower

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Challenges of Goal Planning

• Challenges

– Issues may arise that impact client’s progress

toward goals

• Defeating for client

• Suggests little change was achieved

– Need initial and follow-up scores in order to show

impact of program

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"By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you

set in motion the process of becoming the person you

most want to be. Put your future in good hands —

your own.”

Mark Victor Hansen

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