More than a Theory

This weekend, I was fortunate to present at the Solution Focused World Conference in Amsterdam. I saw people that I had only met online during Covid and got to talk to so many of them about the work that we all love to do. I mentioned how, when I attend solution focused conferences, people are always smiling. At other conferences, people seem drained and are always wanting to learn new interventions. Our conversations involved our being curious about each other, with people anxious to hear about more successful ways to use the solution focused mindset. From domestic violence to child-parent abuse, to working with children and teens in sand trays and even playing a game based on the solution focused way of thinking, we stretched our minds to encompass more ways of embracing those who come to talk to us.

Whenever I do a new SF Connection, there are questions about how to use the model with a different, challenging school client, or a teen with a serious home life who adults think is dangerous. But here’s the thing, it just doesn’t have to be that hard. In the end, it’s you and the school client in the same room, with you listening for where that school client wants to go, what will happen when they get there and what their part of making that happen entails.

That’s it.

So, on this Monday, after being in Amsterdam, or, “bicycle” land, watching hundreds of bicycles carrying children, dogs, groceries, and more, I want you to pause before you see your next school client today and think about this.

“I am at my best as a solution focused school counselor when I give all of the power for creating solutions to my school clients. All of it! If at first, they don’t know what they want, I will see that as my job to help them imagine their life on a stage, where things are going better. What role will the school client play? How might others receive their new actions? How will that “act” end best?”

Trust me, they can tell you.