I attended the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) annual conference this past July, which was held at the Los Angeles Downtown Convention Center. I decided to attend to learn more about current practices in the school counseling profession as well as ASCA-specific resources. I attended all three days of the conference and personally found the workshop titled “Solutions-Focused School Counselor’s Playbook” by Arond Schonberg, M.S., PPS and Keith Fulthorp, EdD., PPS especially helpful. The workshop shared about Solution Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC), if it’s a possible single solution for the audience, demonstrated the techniques, as well as provided opportunities to practice together.
As a school counselor, our time with students are limited and out of our scope of practice to work extensively and exclusively with students in a therapeutic manner. I was drawn to SFBC since it’s solution focused, positive, and fits well within the time constraints we have as a school counselor. SFBC concentrates on finding solutions in the present moment and focusing on one’s hope for the future to find quicker resolutions. It is a versatile and effective technique that can be used as a single therapeutic intervention or combined with therapy treatments. SFBC can be used individually with individuals across age, gender, cultural backgrounds, etc. The top ten techniques of this intervention recommended by Fulthorp and Schonberg follows the sequence of:
- Obtain student’s description of the problem
- Scaling
- The miracle question
- Positive goals
- Exceptions
- Cheerleading
- Flagging the minefield
- What else and instead questions
- What’s different or better questions
- Write a note and compliment, summarize strengths
The workshop presentation and the “Top-10 Solution Focused Brief Counseling Techniques” by the presenters with the strategy, description, and example questions/statements are also provided. This counseling technique is effective in most situations, but especially so in the educational settings due to our limited time as well as within our scope of practice as school counselors. I appreciate that SFBC is goal-oriented and collaborative that encourages the individual to focus on the present moment rather than the complexities of past experiences or anxiety/worry over the future, which often takes significantly more time to analyze in depth. I also appreciate that SFBC techniques equips us as school counselors with tools that allow students to leave our offices feeling empowered in their ability to resolve their problem(s) as well as a sense of hope for their current situation. SFBC is evidenced-based and supported by various federal and state agencies and insertions, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Research has demonstrated that SFBC is an effective approach to the treatment of psychological problems with effectiveness similar to the results of cognitive-based therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)One way to measure its effectiveness is using one of the SFBC techniques of a scaling question. Through the process, we work with students to identify a starting point for the security of the problem, using a scale of 0-10 (0 is problem-free to 10 is the worst the problem has ever been). As we go continue through the sequence of SFBC techniques, we can see if the student’s number has gone up or down to determine if the intervention was effective and successful. SFBC can be easily replicated in most contexts and can also be further used as one of the treatment options or on it’s own depending on the situation and need, which is why it is incredibly effective in the limited time setting of the school counselor’s office and role.
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