Fall 2025 SOWk 581 Week 11 - Solution-Focused Therapy

Fall 2025 SOWk 581 Week 13 - Solution-Focused Therapy

title: Fall 2025 SOWk 581 Week 13 - Solution-Focused Therapy date: 2025-11-07 14:28:51 location: Heritage University tags:

• Heritage University
• MSW Program
• SOWK 581 presentation_video: > “” description: >

Week 11 is a synchronous week, with class on Saturday (11/08/25). Students will read Chapter 11 from Cooper and Granucci Lesser (2022), which introduces the core principles and methods of Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT), and complete the associated reading quiz. This week’s forums encourage students to reflect on solution-focused strategies, compare SFT with Motivational Interviewing, and apply diagnostic reasoning to client vignettes. In class, we will explore the structure of solution-focused work, including types of questions, family assessment, and goal setting. We will also engage in demonstrations and role-plays to develop applied skills. The agenda for the class session includes:

• Discussing the basics of Solution-Focused Therapy
• Demonstrating question strategies and brief interventions
• Practicing a solution-oriented family assessment
• Role-playing with realistic case examples

The Learning Objectives this week include:

• Describe the types of questions and strategies used in solution-focused therapy.
• Conduct a solution-oriented family assessment to identify and clarify the problem, engage in meaning-making, assess the customer(s) for change within the family system, set goals, and collaborate on treatment planning.
• Compare and contrast Solution-Focused Therapy with Motivational Interviewing in philosophy and implementation.
• Develop and assess a client vignette using DSM-5 diagnostic criteria within a person-in-environment framework.

Plan for Week 11

Agenda

• Basics of Solution-Focused Therapy
• Demonstration
• Solution-Oriented Family Assessment
• Role-Play Activity

Learning Objectives

• Describe the types of questions and strategies used in solution-focused therapy.
• Conduct a solution-oriented family assessment to identify and clarify the problem, engage in meaning-making, assess the customer(s) for change within the family system, set goals, and collaborate on treatment planning.

Collaborative Solutions

The term “solution-focused” can be more likely to be misunderstood. It is not about giving clients ready-made solutions. It truly is about how we can work together with the client to construct solutions to their problems.

Being focused on solutions doesn’t negate the importance of the collaborative process.

Focus of Treatment for Solution-Focused Therapy

The focus of treatment is on setting goals that help the client move from hopelessness to hopefulness about the potential for change.

One consideration we often keep in mind when thinking about SFBT is that… the change doesn’t have to be monumental. In SFBT, we typically look for small changes.

[Whole Group Activity] Questioning the Why of Minor Changes Why can making a small change be so impactful?

Types of Questions Used in Solution-Focused

Solution-focused therapy is applied based on the focus of the treatment process and the type of questions asked to engage clients. The following are common types of questions we tend to ask:

• Presuppositional Questions: define the “who,” “what,” “how,” and “where” of goal achievement
  • Who will notice first when things begin to improve?
  • What will be different once you start reaching your goal?
  • How will you know you’re making progress?
  • Where in your life will these changes show up most clearly?
• Exception Questions: highlight times when the problem is not present
  • Can you tell me about a time recently when this problem didn’t happen?
  • What was different about that situation?
  • Who was involved when things went better?
  • How did you make that moment possible?
• Scaling Questions: provide a quantitative measure of the client’s problem
  • On a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means the problem is at its worst and 10 means it’s completely solved, where are you today?
  • What makes you say that number instead of a lower one?
  • What would a one-point improvement look like?
  • What would it take to move from a 5 to a 6?
• Coping Questions: ask how the client has managed in certain circumstances
  • How have you managed to keep going despite everything?
  • What helps you get through tough days like this?
  • What do you tell yourself that allows you to keep trying?
  • Who or what supports you when things feel unmanageable?
• Problem Tracking Questions: offer an interactive way to view the problem
  • When does the problem seem strongest, and when is it weakest?
  • Are there particular times, places, or people that make it better or worse?
  • What patterns do you notice in when the problem shows up?
  • If we charted your week, when would you expect the problem to appear most?
• The Miracle Question: ask what life would look like if a miracle occurred
  • Suppose tonight, while you were sleeping, a miracle happened and the problem was gone. When you wake up, what would be the first thing you’d notice?
  • What would other people notice about you?
  • How would your daily routine be different?
  • What would tell you that the miracle had really happened?

[Whole Class Activity] Invite a student who is willing to go through some goal-setting and review a problem or challenge they might have. Try to demonstrate as many of the skills and questions as possible for 5-10 minutes as an example. Debrief with the class afterward about what they observed.

==Also, think about complements so I can include them as examples on the next slide.==

Three Types of Complements

There are three types of complements generally considered part of Solution-Focused Therapy.

A direct compliment explicitly acknowledges something the client has done or said.

“You’ve been so consistent in coming to our sessions and working on your goals. That shows a lot of commitment to your growth.”

An indirect compliment can be:

• Implying something positive about the client (“How have you managed to make the household so calm?”)
• Imply something positive through a relationship (“If your children were here and I asked them what you do to be a good mother, what do you think they would say?”)
• Indicating that the client knows what is best (“How did you know that it is important for you to treat each of your children as though they are special?”)

The textbook describes indirect compliments as being given from someone who knows the client and may be considered credible. I referenced my “Interviewing for Solutions” book to gather these examples.

They also suggest that among the three, we likely spend most of our time giving indirect compliments.

Self-complements are opportunities to recognize and reinforce signs of progress, often with indirect compliments. For example: “I decided to quit using cocaine because I got smart.” We might respond with, “Did it surprise you that you decided to do that?” or “Has it been difficult?”

Solution-Oriented Family Assessment - Five Components

Solution-focused work primarily originated in family therapy, and although there are many different methods for engaging in family work using this approach, consider these five components of Solution-Oriented Family Assessment:

1. Defining and Clarifying the Problem: Use productive questions to identify the issues…
2. Meaning Making: Elicit the family story, referral, and context, as well as what they have already tried.
3. Identifying the True Client(s) for Change:
   • Visitors (those brought to counseling because someone else in the family believes they have a problem),
   • Complainants (individuals who voice concerns or worries and often hope the therapist will restate the problem as they see it), and
   • Customers (those concerned about the problematic behaviors of the identified client and most willing to collaborate with the therapist for new solutions).
4. Coauthoring a New Family Story: Develop a future vision (consider miracle, scaling, and problem-tracking questions) using concrete and behavioral language.
5. Co-constructing the “blueprint for change” plan: Collaboratively decide on actionable steps.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is considered helpful.

Role Play Prep

Role play cases taken from ChatGPT. Before you start going into the the role-plays, consider the following:

• Think about the five components of solution-oriented family assessment and the techniques of solution-focused therapy.
• Pick a role-play and assign roles. If you need to add or subtract members, talk and develop a plan as a group. If it works, having someone just as an observer is okay.
• Spend time prepping as a team (what questions might you ask the family and what potential responses might occur)

Scenarios developed in conjunction with OpenAI (2024)

Role Play Case: The Robinson Family

• Patricia (Mom, 38): Recently divorced, working full-time as a nurse. She feels overwhelmed by balancing work and parenting her two children and struggles with guilt about the divorce’s impact on her kids.
• Liam (Son, 14): A quiet and introverted teenager who has started skipping school and isolating himself in his room. He feels caught in the middle of his parents’ conflicts and worries about his future.
• Ella (Daughter, 9): A cheerful but anxious child who seeks constant reassurance from her mother. She’s having trouble sleeping and often expresses fears about her mom leaving her.

Role Play Case: The Nguyen Family

• Kim (Dad, 42): A first-generation immigrant who works two jobs to support the family. He feels disconnected from his children due to long work hours and worries about them losing touch with their cultural roots.
• Mai (Mom, 40): A stay-at-home parent who struggles with loneliness and feeling unsupported. She wants to strengthen her relationship with her husband and teach her children the value of family traditions.
• An (Daughter, 17): A high-achieving high school student who feels immense pressure to succeed academically. She’s experiencing burnout and conflict with her parents over their high expectations.
• Minh (Son, 12): A bright and creative child who struggles with attention issues at school. He feels overshadowed by his sister’s accomplishments and wishes for more one-on-one time with his parents.

Role Play Case:The Morales Family

• Carlos (Dad, 35): Recently laid off from his job, Carlos feels ashamed and frustrated, which has led to increased tension at home. He struggles to express his emotions and feels distant from his family.
• Rosa (Mom, 34): A part-time retail worker who is trying to keep the household together financially and emotionally. She feels overwhelmed by her responsibilities and is worried about her husband’s well-being.
• Javier (Son, 16): An outgoing teenager who has been getting into fights at school and pushing boundaries at home. He feels frustrated by his father’s withdrawal and struggles to find a positive outlet for his energy.
• Sophia (Daughter, 10): A sensitive child who often acts as the peacekeeper in the family. She feels anxious when her parents argue and worries about the family’s financial struggles.

Solution-Focused Experiments

In Solution Focused work with clients, we often ask our clients to try an experiment and see how things go. Some examples of these include:

• Prediction task: when will be a good day and what would it take
• Do something different task: When locked into power struggles… flip the script
• Pretend the miracle happened task: positive consequences even though history of negative behavior.

[Small Group Activity] Discuss Solution-Focused Experiments

• How might these types of experiments help clients build self-efficacy and hope?
• What would you need to consider to make an experiment realistic and achievable for a client?
• Can you think of an example from your own life or practice where a small “experiment” led to unexpected positive change?