1. Helping young people talk about problems
A solution-focused approach
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

2. Why use a solution-focused approach?
Identifies strengths/useful strategies used before
Encourages ownership of ideas
Young person takes responsibility for positive outcomes
Don’t have to be a counsellor to help
Non-threatening
Just one tool in your “toolkit” of skills
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

3. Eliza Smith, Wesley College
Preferred Futures
Ask the young person to:
Imagine tomorrow is a fantastic day. Describe it in detail, starting with when you wake up.
What would be happening differently to now?
What do you see yourself doing that is different?
How will others know that you are having a really good day? (e.g. parents, teachers, friends)
What will others be doing differently to tell you that you are having a good day?
What will they/you be doing instead?
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

4. Eliza Smith, Wesley College
Preferred Futures
Can be used very briefly
E.g. If child is complaining they “can’t get organised”, use the questions provided to work through.
If very little time, one question:
“Imagine you were completely organised. What would be happening differently?”
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

5. Eliza Smith, Wesley College
Scale questions
Useful for finding out:
- what the person believes is “ideal”
- where they feel they are at the moment
- what would be good enough for them
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

6. Eliza Smith, Wesley College
Developing scales
“Imagine a scale from 1 to 10 where…”
“0 = the worst that things can be”
“10 = the young person’s ideal situation”
“What would a 10 look like?”
“Where are you now?”
“What is stopping you from being lower down on the scale?” (i.e. positives)
“Where would be good enough for you on the scale?”
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

7. Look for positive exceptions & strategies
Help them identifying times when:
- they have been further up on the scale
- they have dealt with difficulties in a useful way
What was useful in the past?
What helped you to cope in the past?
Which people were helpful?
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

8. Eliza Smith, Wesley College
Sample Scale 10
E. “Where on the scale would be good enough for you?”
A.“Where are you now?”
D. Child describes “10”
(their OWN perfect situation, not yours)
You choose “0”
(e.g. not even getting out of bed)
B. “What makes you 3.5 and not 0?”
F. “If you were at 7, how would things be different?”
C. “What else makes you 3.5?”
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

9. Zooming in on “good enough”10
“Who would notice when you are at a 7?”
“How would you know when you were at a 7?”
“Has there ever been a time when things were at a 7?”
“What would they notice?
(Looking for POSITIVE EXCEPTIONS)
“What was different about those times?”
Remember to turn their NEGATIVES into POSITIVES.
E.g. If you ask “What would they notice?” and the student answers “I wouldn’t be crying all the time”, you can then ask “What would you be doing instead?”
“What were you doing differently?”
“What were others doing differently?”
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

10. Moving up the scale 10
“Imagine you were just one point higher on the scale”
“What would tell them that you were at 4.5?”
“What would be different if you were at 4.5?”
“Who would notice that you were at 4.5?”
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

11. Eliza Smith, Wesley College
Monitoring progress
Help the young person to keep track of:
- when s/he is just one point up on the scale
- what is happening at those times
- who is noticing a difference
- what they notice is different
- when things are much higher up on the scale
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

12. Eliza Smith, Wesley College
Assessing progress
People can self-assess:
Where they are now on the scale
The skills/qualities needed to get there
Whether they are satisfied with their progress on that goal
Useful strategies that they can use again
What else needs to happen for progress to be made
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College

13. When things are not likely to change…
Use “coping” questions/scales:
E.g. “If you were coping better with this situation, what would be happening differently?”
Useful for identifying avenues of support (within family, at school, among friends)
Also can identify helpful/unhelpful thinking/reacting
16/11/2018
Eliza Smith, Wesley College