Practical Skills and Strategies

Brief solution-focused counseling in schools & in families

When: September 26, 2014 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Location: Andrew’s University Buller Hall (Newbold Auditorium)
Registration Deadline: September 26, 2014
Cost $20 per person
Suggested Audience: School Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers,& Other Mental Health Personnel 

This practical session demonstrates key principles and practices
of Brief Solution-Focused Counseling (BSFC), a culturally sensitive,
research-supported approach to building school and family solutions by
honoring the unique strengths and resources of young people and their
caregivers. Demonstrations, videotapes, experiential exercises, and
practice activities are used to increase the immediate application of
techniques “the very next day on the job.”
This workshop explores the major principles and strategies of Brief
Solution-Focused Counseling (BSFC), a culturally sensitive, researchsupported
approach to building solutions with young people and
caregivers by utilizing their strengths, resources, and possibilities.
Based on “what works” in helping people change, BSFC conforms
the counseling process to students and others by honoring and
accommodating their unique strengths, resources, opinions, and
feedback. BSFC strategies include:
• Establishing collaborative, change-focused relationships
• Using language to promote hope and solutions
• Building solutions from people’s indigenous resources
• Empowering small improvements whenever they occur
The workshop includes “live” onsite demonstrations, videotapes from
counseling sessions, experiential exercises, and practice activities
aimed at increasing the immediate relevance and applicability of
training content.

Participants will learn how to:
• Build collaborative relationships with hard-to-reach young
people, caregivers, and families
• Build hope from the opening moments of contact
• Develop creative interventions based on people’s strengths,
successes, and resources
• Empower small improvements whenever they occur
Materials Provided for Participants (optional; at the request of
the sponsoring agency) (Book: Solution-Focused Counseling
in Schools (by John Murphy, 2008, American Counseling
Association); discount price available for sponsoring agencies
and workshop participants.