Solution Focussed Approaches to Helping

“The Solution Focused approach to coaching” Cavanagh & Grant

(2010)

Key Ideas

Problem free talkScalingMiracle questionClient is expert

Problem Free Talk

Note: The mentee must be ‘ready’ to engage in problem free talk. Attempts to rush into this can be perceived as insensitive (CF Person Centred)

Many helping relationships centre around exploration of ‘the problem(s)’ as experienced by the mentee.

Although this can be necessary and have its benefits in certain contexts, there are occasions of continually revisiting the problem might be counter-productive.

Consider the following TA example:

The acronym ‘GEMS’ can serve to steer the mentor away from problem based talk: G - oals – what does the mentee want for themselves in

the future E - xceptions – listen out for when the mentee is

discussion an aspect of their life when the problem was not apparent.

M - iracle question can be used creatively (yellow hat thinking) to divert the topic.

S – caling can enable the mentee to refocus on the solutions. (Destination/vision etc).

Employing Egan’s ‘active listening’ techniques can promote your sensory acuity towards opportunities to introduce GEMS.

Links with Transactional Analysis

The first such game theorized was Why don't you/Yes, but in which one player (Julie) would pose a problem as if seeking help, and the other player(s) (Claire) would offer solutions (the "Why don't you?" suggestion). This game was noticed as many patients played it in therapy and psychiatry sessions, and inspired Berne to identify other interpersonal "games".

Julie would point out a flaw in every Claire’s solution (the "Yes, but" response), until they all gave up in frustration. For example, if someone's life script was "to be hurt many times, and suffer and make others feel bad when I die" a game of "Why Don't You, Yes But" might proceed as follows:

Example:

Julie: I wish I could lose some weight. Claire: Why don't you join a gym? Julie: Yes but, I can't afford the payments for a gym. Claire: Why don't you speed walk around your block after you

get home from work? Julie: Yes but, I don't dare walk alone in my area after dark. Claire: Why don't you take the stairs at work instead of the

elevator? Julie: Yes but, after my knee surgery, it hurts too much to walk

that many flights of stairs. Claire: Why don't you change your diet? Julie: Yes but, my stomach is sensitive and I can tolerate only

certain foods.

Founders

(1934 – 2007) Co-Founder of SFBTBrief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in

Milwaukee Insoo Kim Berg - Family TherapyAnd, Steve DeShazer.

Scaling Questions

Steve De Shazer (1940 -2005)Co-founder of the solution focussed

approach with Insoo Kim Berg.After asking a client “what is better since

last time?” The client said “I’m nearly a 10 now”.

Hence, numbers used to understand development

Benefits

Easy to useFocus on changeFocus on clients phenomenological

existence (Like Person Centred)Broad application

Scaling… ‘Steps’

1. Explain the scale

Alternative scales:

Where are we now?

2. The current position

Like a jigsaw…

3. Establish a platform: Find out what has already worked.

Vision

Visualise a higher position; describe how things will look.

Success and Strengths

5. Identify earlier success – what happened?

Small steps

6. Step forward – Ask the client what small steps they could take

Types of Scale

Success scaleMotivational scaleConfidence scaleIndependence scale

Conclusion

Being a cognitively flexible mentor might mean that at times you have cause to employ solution focussed techniques. This might be when:

Discussions of the problem are creating stagnation and or frustration.

The mentee is in a contemplative stage of considering the benefits of change.

You are being motivational (interviewing). You are empowering the mentee to employ

divergent thinking and offer their own solutions that are more likely to succeed than mentor led solutions.