Solution Focused

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"A tourist driving through rural Ireland got lost on the small roads.  Frustrated, he eventually stopped and asked a farmer how he could get back on the main road to Cork City.  'Ah,' said the farmer, 'If I was going to Cork, I wouldn't start from here.  I would start from somewhere else.'*  This Irish joke can illustrate how unhelpful people can be when we don't meet people where they are at in life.  In the human services field, it's important to meet people where they are at, not where we think they should be.

If the client feels that the counselor is attempting to put himself in her shoes by meeting her where she is at then she will begin to develop trust; this can foster a strong therapeutic alliance. Developing that alliance is extremely important when giving counsel to someone that might be searching for a better life but doesn't know where or who to turn to.  There are times like these when solution focused therapy proves to be the best method to help others navigate toward the right road for them.  Whenever I have been lost in an unfamiliar place and my wife finally demands me to go into a gas station to ask for directions, the attendant has never asked me, "Well, how did you get lost?"  The attendant usually shares with me how to get us on the right road so that we can end up at our desired destination; this is how solution focused therapy works.

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Solution Focused Therapy includes a few different helpful techniques including: 1. Establishing goals; perhaps through asking the miracle question (If you were to wake up today and your life or triggering situation be the way you want it, what would be different?); 2. Finding exceptions to one's problems and then working on how to experience those exceptional moments more often so the goal can be met (I noticed that you don't have as much anxiety, you feel better, and your more productive when you go for a walk after work, I wonder how you can fit that in more?).  3.  Monitoring progress or effectiveness through scaling questions (On a scale of one to ten...).

If someone has experienced major trauma they will need to go back and examine their trauma narrative, but for clients that need to move forward, Solution Focused Therapy is extremely effective and helpful getting someone headed in the right direction.        


*Becoming a Solution Detective: Identifying your Client's Strengths in Practical Brief Therapy. The Haworth Clinical Practice Press. Binghamton, NY.  John Sharry, Brendan Madden and Melissa Darmondy 2003.  

Just One Page

Approximately ten years ago I went to a conference in Indianapolis where the speaker, Fred Craddock, spoke on the principle of writing "one page."  I remember sitting in that cushioned but uncomfortable chair in a crowded room at that session thinking of the value of writing "one page" stories.  With the completion of school coming in a few weeks that will add a little extra time, I thought that this was the best time as ever to start recording these one pagers.  

Most of the time when a memorable story or principle is experienced or surfaces in one's life it can be a teachable moment.  Craddock expressed the importance of recording these moments in just "one page" in order to recall them later.  These moments can be recalled for teaching, preaching, counseling, writing or any other instructional value to illustrate a point.  Of course, ethical standards and respect toward others involved in the story or example should be considered when appropriate.

Source to Pic of Dr. Fred Craddock

In the last ten years I have failed to consistently record these "one page" stories or principles primarily because I don't hold to a specific plan or system of doing so.  I have now decided to plan on using this blog as my "one page" to collect illustrative stories, resources, and other useful material that I might find insightful to recall later for instructional purposes.  The great thing about collecting stories and other material is that the same illustration can be used with a variety of clients, parishioners, or readers to emphasize a multitude of principles.  Craddock said, "A different condition calls for a reshaping of the story that will address appropriately the new condition; you have to put the grease where the squeak is."

I have been writing these blogs sporadically the last couple years, but my goal is to write a blog each week.  Feel free to read, ignore, or interact at your leisure.  




       

Troubleshooting Your Thoughts: Helpful Self-talk Methods

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Have you been doubting yourself lately or thinking more negative about your current life circumstance?  Using positive self-talk statements WILL NOT CHANGE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE but it can reprogram your mind to look at a situation different.  Think about your mind like a computer:

     - Self talk is in our subconscious mind.  It is the thoughts that automatically appears in our mind without the prefrontal cortex filtering or rationalizing the thought.  It is the racing chatter in the mind before going to sleep at night or the self-talk going on about jobs, friends/family, upcoming projects, or situations throughout the day.
     -The subconscious mind is programmed similar to a computer.  Just like a computer, our mind will only perform the way  it is programmed.
     - When you insert programs into a computer, you are telling the computer how to respond.  This is like our mind.  When we input information into our mind there is a psychological and a physiological response (stomach tighten, sweating, sighing, muscle tension, fist clinching, etc.). 
     - The subconscious mind does not hold any preconceived ideas or beliefs that has not already been downloaded. 
     - The brain takes in all uncensored information, whether it is true or false/right or wrong.
   - The downloaded material that the brain accepts from pictures, statements, feelings, thoughts inserts into the subconscious mind.

Always/Never thoughts can be unhealthy.  A person's circumstance should not be filtered in the prefrontal cortex by extreme (always/never) thinking.  These thoughts produce a mind that will struggle to look at different perspectives and solutions when troubleshooting problems in your life.

• I'm not good at anything or (insert current issue) VS. I can handle this.
• Nothing ever goes the way I intend VS. I'm making some progress.
• Why should I try to do this?  VS. I'm willing to try.
• I can't get this done on time. VS. I am in control of this situation.
• I've tried, I can't, I wont succeed. VS. I am good at or I can do this.
• What is wrong with me? VS. I have a fantastic ... job/friends/skills
• It's just not my day.  VS. I'll keep trying.
• I'm so frustrated. VS. I'll eventually get it with will power.

Programming these positive thoughts into your mind wont change your circumstance but it may give you a different perspective and the will power to try again, work harder, avoid giving up, and make progress so that you find success.