Brief Counseling That Works: A Solution-Focused Therapy Approach for School Counselors and Other Mental Health Professionals

by Gerald B. Sklare

Overview

Everything you need for maximum counseling results in less time!

Expert Gerald Sklare is back with a breakthrough approach to effective counseling. Get fresh insights and new applications for solution-focused brief counseling (SFBC). Revised and expanded chapters help you:

• Conduct brief, short-term sessions that lead to rapid, observable change
• Create well-defined client goals
• Enable clients to envision and take steps toward a more hopeful future
• Maximize your time for rapid, observable student progress
• Use the solution-focused principles with reluctant clients 
• Conduct positive, goal-oriented parent conferences 
• Work with individuals in school and community settings

You’ll find a brand new chapter on abbreviated SFBC sessions, updated case studies and research, helpful flow charts and note sheets, and invaluable practice exercises. This "how-to" book gives you everything you need to implement this powerful, innovative counseling approach.

"Simple yet spectacular, my students and I LOVE Brief Counseling that Works! It presents a user-friendly, time-efficient, and very effective approach to counseling school-aged youth (and adults)!"
—Bradley T. Erford, Professor
Past President of the American Counseling Association
Loyola University of Maryland

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483332321
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	06/11/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Gerald B. Sklare, EdD, LPCC (Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor), NCC (Nationally Certified Counselor), is a profes-sor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Both his master’s degree and doctorate are in counselor education from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He has served as a teacher and counselor in elementary, junior high, and high schools; he has conducted workshops around the United States on SFBC; and he has practiced in school settings and in private practice using this approach.


Hear from the author himself here.

Table of Contents

Preface
Overview of the Contents
What’s New in This Edition
Who Can Benefit From This Book
Acknowledgments
Publisher′s Acknowledgments
About the Author
1. Counseling in Schools and Other Settings: Problems and Solutions
Origins of Solution-Focused Brief Counseling
Differences and Similarities
Effectiveness
Core “Rules”
Solution-Focused Assumptions
Additional Guiding Concepts
Summary
Practice Exercise
2. Setting Goals
Opening the First Meeting: Establishing Rapport and Explaining the Process
Developing a Positive Goal
The Miracle Question
“What Else” Questions
Establishing Well-Developed Goals: An Overview
Summary
Practice Exercises
3. Discovering and Constructing Solutions
Discovering Unrecognized Solutions: Instances of Success
Empowering Clients Through Recognition of Their Resources
Scaling a Baseline and Progress
Flagging the Minefield: Identifying and Overcoming Obstacles
Concluding the Initial Session With a Message
Summary
Practice Exercise
4. Connecting the Pieces
Components of the First Session
Case Study With Pedro: Session One
Summary
Practice Exercises
5. Abbreviated SFBC Session
Explaining the Process
Determine What the Client Wants to Achieve
Use Scaling to Determine Clients’ Views of Their Present Situation
What’s the Highest Number the Client Has Ever Been?
The Message
A Case of an Abbreviated SFBC Session
Summary
6. Conducting Subsequent Sessions
Subsequent Sessions: Getting Started
Components of Second and Subsequent Sessions
Assessing Whether Further Counseling is Needed
Writing a Message
Tools for Second and Subsequent Sessions: Flow Chart and Note Sheet
Subsequent Sessions With Pedro
Summary
7. Working With Reluctant Clients and Challenging Situations
Helping Involuntary Clients Become Customers for Counseling
SFBC With Students Mandated for Counseling in Lieu of Disciplinary Action
Turning Difficult Situations Into Workable Goals
Summary
8. Expanding Applications of Solution-Focused Concepts
10-Second “Counseling”
Solution-Focused Counseling Referral Form
Use of Puppets in SFBC
Use of Sand Trays in SFBC
Solution-Focused Group Counseling
Classroom Counseling Using SFBC Methods
Solution-Focused Parent-Teacher Conferences
Solution-Focused Guided Imagery
Summary
Final Thoughts
Appendix A: Counseling Session With Kasey: A Practice Exercise
Appendix B: Solution-Focused Guided Imagery
Appendix C: Practice Detailing a Non-Specific Goal
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Every once in a while I come upon a text that is so clear, so explicit, and so practical that I hear students recommending it to other counseling students who are not in the class. Gerald Sklare’s Brief Counseling That Works: A Solution-Focused Approach for School Counselors and Administrators is one such book. I have used the first two editions in my secondary school internship course for several years, and have had universally positive feedback from the interns. Even though they have all been introduced to SFBC in their theories and group classes and many have applied it in to their work in practicum, they are excited about how it helps them with “Connecting the Pieces”. While I appreciate the ways that the book addresses the application of SFBC to the school setting, I feel that it is a valuable resource for anyone working with children and adolescents regardless of the setting. "

Virginia S. Dansby

"The solution-focused counseling approach is teaching us that strengths and resources are already available and dormant within students, parents, and the school. This book is a highly readable and practical guide for harnessing the power of problem-free talk and exception-seeking to support and empower our students. "

Stephanos P. Vassilopoulos

"Simple yet spectacular, my students and I LOVE Brief Counseling that Works. It presents a user-friendly, time-efficient, and very effective approach to counseling school-aged youth (and adults)! "

Bradley T. Erford