Paper Example on Solution-Focused Therapy

Introduction

The client in the video indicates that the busier his life gets the more he suffers because he does not have enough time to have fun. He claimed that whenever he gets a free time he could only use it to relax rather than having fun like he used to. He claimed that when he was a little bit younger he used to have more fun because he could attend events and concerts where he was able to meet new people and make friends but he is not able to do that now. When he gets free time people around him might be busy and thus have no time to interact with them. He wants to get that fan back despite the fact that he is doing a full-time course and working at the same time.

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The Chosen Method of Counseling and Objectives

In this case, there are different methods of counseling that I will employ in order to make sure that she obtain proper counseling in regard to her situation. As a therapist, I understand that all therapist is usually in a form of dedicated conversations. Solution-focused therapy is the most preferred method. This type of therapy focuses on the future, it is goal-oriented and focuses on providing answers instead of the problem which made the client to seek counseling. This type of therapy allows the client to be accepted regardless of the past screening. It focuses on a lucid, factual, and concise objectives.

Using this therapy technique implies that I understand that clients have some knowledge of what might change their life despite the fact that they might require some assistance illustrating the details of their life better life (Walter & Peller, 2013). Using this technique also means that I understand that the client who seeks counseling already have some little skills required to come up with solutions. In this session, my main objectives and aims will be to make sure that I assist the client with how he can begin having fun again so that he can stop living a boring life. With this kind of therapy, therefore, I will concentrate on developing and accomplishing the vision of answers of the client. However, there are different methods and questions which might assist in the clarification of those solutions and how they can be achieved (Gingerich & Peterson, 2013). As a therapist, one of my main objectives will be to look for the previous solutions regarding this matter. In this case, I will be sure that the client has had problems in the past and he might have been able to solve them without any help from a professional and thus he must have some ideas on how to solve the current issue. However, the client might not be in a position of seeing these potential solutions and as a therapist, I will have to ask him some questions to assist them to see the solution.

Identification of the Skills Used

I used different skills in this regard, for example, looking for exceptions. Here, if the client does not have the previous solution which might be reiterated, he might tend to have a recent example of exception of the issue. In this case, an issue could happen but it does not. The variation between the previous solution and an exception is little but very important in this process (Hoyt, 2013). A previous solution involves the practices that his close people such as family and friends have tried and it worked but discontinued in the future. On the other hand, an exception involves something which occurred rather than the problem often impulsively and devoid of the conscious intent. Therefore, one of my main goal here will be to help this client to identify these exceptions by asking questions related to this matter. Another skill will be to focus on the present and future based questions and the past-oriented focus. I will concentrate on asking questions which focus on the present and the future alone because the past will not likely affect the future but rather the current situation will. In this regard, these questions will be answered depending on what is already working and how the client wishes their life should be rather than focusing on the past and the source of the issue.

Things must be fixed depending on the current situation in order to come up with a reliable solution. As a therapist, I will, therefore, ask the client what he will be doing with his future free time in order to solve his problem. I will also focus on compliments as it is one of the important parts of solution-focused therapy skills. After understanding that the client is not doing that bad and recognizing how serious his problem is, I will then encourage the client to change while providing the information depending on what I have been listening from him which will show appreciation and care. Compliments in therapy sessions assist in punctuating what the client is going through and whether it works for him. Thus, I will convey compliments in form of questions which are appreciatively toned. I will also advise the client to focus more on what is working rather than what cannot work best for them.

Another skill that I will use to includes asking the client to do more of what is working. After creating an appositive view to the client via compliment, and then identify some past problems and exceptions to the issue, I will thus ask the client to focus more on what has been working out for him in the past. I would advise the client to use the changes that he had made. Another skill that I will use includes the miracle question which is a unique tool that is powered in the creation of the initial steps of "answer state" b assisting the client to illustrate, little, doable and realistic procedures they can use within the shortest time possible. This tool is very important because it can also be used during the desperate moments and thus a client might require a 'miracle' in order to fix everything. I this case I will use coping questions, for example, I will ask my client how he has been able to manage his situation such that he can prevent the situation from worsening.

Evaluation of the Applications of the Skills

I applied the skills well because I made sure that I have provided solutions to his problems in his vocational aspect of life. I was able to accomplish this goal because I established a useful helping technique which assisted the client in a more effective and efficient manner. With all the skills from the solution-focused model that I was able to use, I concentrated on the main aspect of a particular skill which in turn led to effectiveness. Since I knew that the client under therapy could have some ideas about how to handle his problem, my work was to advise him to focus on what is working for him now which would otherwise bring fun in his life. I also motivated the client to envision his solution where he would be required to note down the steps that will help him solve the issue and accomplish his goals. Another reason that proves that I was able to apply the skills effectively is that I was able to focus on solving issues and not on the reasons behind the issue and thus I advised the client to treat the issues based on priority. I was able to apply the skills well depending on the kind of questions that I asked the client, for example, I asked him if he feels like there is a topic that I did not cover. Therefore, I offered the client therapeutic information depending on the objectives of the client.

Suggestions for Improvement

There are different are different factors that I suggest would improve the application of the above skills which also include what I could have said or done. The first factor that will improve the use of the skill is providing fast response. Quick and immediate feedback will be good because the client will get an answer immediately without having to wait for some days. Therefore, the client will decide if the provided feedback will assist them or not and this will give them a way forward on what they should focus on and what they should not focus on. Another important thing that will improve the application of these skills includes proper communication skills. No client will wish to be advised by a therapist who does not have effective communication skills (Berg & Miller, 1992). These skills are very important because they will determine how I will interact with my client in order to give him the best solution. Proper communication will also be a motivating factor to the client because the client will feel appreciated regardless of the situation in which he is going through.

Overall Effectiveness

When it comes to the effectiveness of the use of the above methods of counseling, I can say that the methods were effective because I was able to assist the client to solve his current problem. Besides, there was a good interaction between me and my client all through the session because of professionalism in the application of the chosen method of counseling. The implications for my future development are that it helped in gaining more experience on how to handle my clients (Franklin, Trepper, McCollum, & Gingerich, 2011). Besides, the improvement in the use of these skills also requires critical thinking and problem-solving skills. I was able to check on my problem-solving skills because it will be hard for me to solve the problems regarding the personal issues of individuals while I do not have the necessary ability to solve the problem. Another factor that ensured effectiveness in applying the chosen method was time. In this case, I was able to provide feedback to the client when needed so that the solution could be useful regarding his current situation. It is very important to consider this as the client will start focusing on the solutions as quickly as possible.

References

Walter, J. L., & Peller, J. E. (2013). Becoming solution-focused in brief therapy. Routledge.Gillen, M. (2010). Solution-focused therapy. Integrating the Expressive Arts into Counseling Practice: Theory-Based Interventions, 29.

Macdonald, A. (2011). Solution-focused therapy: Theory, research & practice. Sage.Gingerich, W. J., & Peterson, L. T. (2013). Effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy: A systematic qualitative review of controlled outcome studies. Research on Social Work Practice, 23(3), 266-283.

Pichot, T., & Coulter, M. (2014). Solution-focused brief therapy: Its effective use in agency settings. Routledge.Hoyt, M. F. (2013). Solution-Focused Couple Therapy: Helping Clients Construct Self-Fufilling Realities. In Some stories are better than others (pp. 161-184). Routledge.

Nunnally, E. (1993). Solution focused therapy. In Casebook of the brief psychotherapies (pp. 271-286). Springer, Boston, MA.O'Connell, B. (2012). Solution-focused therapy. Sage.

Berg, I. K., & Miller, S. D. (1992). Working with the problem drinker: A solution-focused approach. WW Norton & Co.

Langdridge, D. (2006). Solution Focused Therapy. Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis, 17(2).

Franklin, C., Trepper, T. S., McCollum, E. E., & Gingerich, W. J. (Eds.). (2011). Solution-focused brief therapy: A handbook of evidence-based practice. Oxford University Press.

Vogelaar, L., van't Spijker, A., Vogelaar, T., van Busschbach, J. J., Visser, M. S., Kuipers, E. J., & der Woude, C. J. V. (2011). Solution focused therapy: A promising new tool in the management of fatigue in Crohn's disease patients: Psychological interventions for the management of fatigue in Crohn's disease. Journal of Crohn's and Colitis, 5(6), 585-591.