Solution Focused Brief Therapy in Alternative Schools (SFBT) provides a step-by-step guide for how school social workers and counselors can work with other school professionals to create an effective solution focused dropout prevention program. Along with illustrative cases and detailed explanations, the authors detail the curriculum and day-to-day operations of a solution focused dropout prevention program by drawing on the experiences of a school that uses this approach.

This Second Edition is part of the School Social Work Association of America Oxford Workshop Series and contains updates on applying Solution-focused Brief Therapy to specific problem areas that school social workers frequently encounter. Clinical case examples have been expanded to provide to incorporate a Response to Intervention approach.

Therapy is frequently miscast as requiring an enormous amount of time and financial commitment, but helpful, goal-oriented therapy can produce positive results after only a few sessions. By focusing on solutions instead of problems, SFBT asks clients to set concrete goals and to draw upon strengths in their lives that can help bring about the desired change for a preferred future.

This book presents the fundamentals of the evidence-based solution-focused brief therapy approach by examining how it was developed, the research that supports it, and the key techniques that enable its effective implementation. Developed originally as a psychotherapeutic approach, the solution-focused approach is now being applied across a wide variety of contexts including psychotherapy and counseling, schools, business, and organisations. This accessible and introductory guide provides a unified description and demonstration of the basic commonalities that characterise, inform, and support its implementation across all these contexts. Readers will acquire a clear understanding of the essentials of the solution-focused approach and how to apply it to everyday life. This book is essential for undergraduate students in courses such as psychotherapy, clinical psychology, and social work. As well as mental health professionals and caregivers seeking to quickly familiarise themselves with the solution-focused approach, and anyone interested in solution-focused and brief therapies.

An invaluable guide to the history, descriptions of practice strategies, and applications of SFBT! The Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy is a unique, comprehensive guide that assists clinicians, regardless of experience level, in learning and applying the concepts of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) to particular situations with clients. Noted experts discuss the therapy practices and various uses for the approach in detail, which focuses on encouraging clients to look at exceptions, times when the problem could have occurred and did not, and goals and future possibilities. A history of the practice model and its interventions is discussed, along with limitations, descriptions of practice strategies, applications to specific client populations, and clinical problems and concerns. This useful resource also includes an illustrative case study that uses the SFBT model. The Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy first lays a foundation of knowledge, providing chapters on the crucial assumptions and practices, history, and epistemology behind the approach. Further chapters use that basis to explain the application of the approach with several clinical issues and various populations, including couples, depression, domestic violence, schools, children, pastoral work, therapist burnout, and a few “outside therapy room” applications. Other chapters focus on the important issues in therapist training and supervision. Extensive references are provided at the end of each chapter. Topics discussed in the Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy include: assumptions within the SFBT tradition history of the SFBT approach epistemology SFBT with couples depression domestic violence offenders public schools children and young people SFBT in faith-based communities assessing and relieving burnout in mental health practice SFBT beyond the therapy room supervision of training possible limitations, misunderstandings, and misuses of SFBT a tribute to the late Steven de Shazer, co-founder of the SFBT approach The Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy is an invaluable reference for all types of therapists, including psychologists, counselors, social workers, and family therapists at any level of experience, including students, trainees, and experienced therapists.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, by Johnny S. Kim, is the first book in the field to provide a practical overview of the essentials of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) from a multicultural perspective, including intervention skills, research, applications, and implications for practice. Case examples illustrate SFBT in action with a wide range of client populations. In addition, the book incorporates recommendations from the recently developed and approved SFBT treatment manual, published by the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Association.

Solution Focused Practice is a change-focused approach to enabling people of all ages to make progress in their lives by emphasising what is wanted in the future, amplifying successes and highlighting the capacities and skills available to support progress. Grounded in the reality of the day-to-day challenges of school life, Solution Focused Practice in Schools: 80 Ideas and Strategies offers dynamic, practical, down-to-earth and jargon-free applications of the Solution Focused (SF) approach that can create energy and movement in even the toughest of situations. From working with individuals to considering organisational developments, this book explores the SF approach using numerous examples and sample questions that can be adapted for any situation and whether the time available is long or short. The reader will gain ideas about how to: move beyond ‘don’t know’ responses in individual discussions with students to create dialogues where difference and change can occur invite classes into constructive conversations about building the classroom environment that brings out the best in students, whether there has been a concern or not address key issues such as confidence, motivation, resilience and dealing with set-backs build detail around potential and effective futures in coaching, consultations and meetings support the development of policies and procedures at an organisational level support solution-based conversations using play, role play, video and other creative techniques. This book is an excellent resource for managers, teachers, SENCOs, mentors, counsellors, coaches, psychologists, social workers and all those who work in a supportive capacity in schools to promote the learning and well-being of both students and staff.

What is Solution-Focused Therapy? Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) is a unique, goal-directed therapy aimed at helping clients regain autonomy by determining and achieving their own goals. Solution focused therapists encourage clients to focus on solutions, not problems, and help clients effectively plan how to reach their goals. Unlike other therapies, SFT holds an abiding belief in clients' abilities to know what is best for them, rather than have a therapist tell them. Why this book? This book not only provides an overview of the Solution Focused therapy model, its basic tenets, and theories; it also presents intimate interviews with expert practitioners-all of whom use SFT in their own practice. To this end, the book offers a wealth of insight into the theory and practice of SFT, to help practitioners decide whether SFT is right for them and their clients. These experts offer details of their apprehensions, goals, breakthroughs, and overall experiences with the therapy. The team of expert contributors includes Eve Lipchik, Yvonne Dolan, Alasdair Macdonald, Thorana Nelson, and many more. Questions the experts address include: How did you discover that SFT was the model that fit your clients' needs? What characteristics of this model drew you towards it? How has SFT impacted your personal life? What is it about SFT that makes it so effective? What are your favorite cases and how did they affect your work as a therapist?

"What makes the profession of social work distinctive and exciting? How do social workers differ from sociologists, psychologists, and other counselors, advocates, and helping professionals? Which degrees, licenses, and credentials can social workers obtain? And in what kinds of work, or fields of practice, can social workers specialize? All these questions are worth considering when one feels led to become a professional social worker"--

A practical resource book for school social workers and mental health professionals. This third edition will appeal to practicing professionals in schools and become a popular textbook for graduate level students enrolled in school social work and school counselling courses.