Throughout the past 70 years, a great deal of research conducted on defining and testing problem-solving skills has led towards solution-focused practices and philosophies. As a result, some literature exists illustrating the efficacy of solution-focused practices. However, no published research exists on the factors that contribute to solution building. This study tested for components of solution building while creating a solution building inventory. Factor analysis failed to find specific factors within solution building. The results indicated that solution building is a unidimensional concept. Implications for using the solution building inventory are discussed. / Ph. D.

With its growing popularity in the field, Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) training workshops are becoming more prevalent in the family therapy training field. Because SFBT represents an innovative approach to therapy, does teaching this model demand innovative ways to train its students or are the same methods used in teaching other models of family therapy sufficient? To begin to address this question, it would be important to know how trainees experience SFBT training as it currently exists. This study qualitatively examined the process that trainees experienced when learning SFBT. Fifteen individuals responded to an email questionnaire, with 7 of those individuals participating in follow-up telephone interviews. In summary, being able to practice using a solution focused approach with clients and receiving supervision on those sessions from a supervisor who used a solution focused framework in giving feedback were factors identified as being most helpful in facilitating the learning process. The study also examined how the participants merged their existing beliefs about people and the therapeutic process with the assumptions inherent to SFBT. Finally, the study examined distinct moments, defined as moments after which the trainee knew that SFBT was a model they could use effectively with their clients. The distinct moments provided a picture of how the training and learning came together in practice for the participants. / Master of Science

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to determine if a solution-focused therapy (SFT) approach to couples counseling can be effective in improving an individual's marital satisfaction, and if a SFT approach to couples therapy can be improved upon by adding a one-time, psycho-educational intervention (i.e. Video #2 from the Fighting for your Marriage series: The Speaker/Listener Technique) that is normally not a part of the model. Nine male-female couples participated in the project. One group (n = 8) completed treatment without viewing the communication skills video while the other group (n = 10) viewed the video at week two of treatment. Three questions were asked when analyzing data: 1. Do individuals who receive both solution-focused therapy and the speaker/listener tape end therapy reporting a greater increase in marital satisfaction than individuals who receive solution-focus therapy only? 2. Do individuals who receive both solution-focused therapy and the speaker/listener tape end therapy reporting a greater increase in satisfaction with their couple communication than those who receive solution-focused therapy only? 3. Do individuals who receive both solution-focused therapy and the speaker/listener tape end therapy reporting more satisfaction with the therapy process than those who receive solution-focused therapy only? No significant difference in marital satisfaction or communication satisfaction was found between the two groups. However, individuals who viewed the video reported being significantly more satisfied with therapy. In addition, both groups reported significant improvement in their relationships which suggests that SFT promotes change. Evidence also suggests that males and females respond to SFT in significantly different ways. The study was limited by its small sample size and one measure that was deemed unreliable. Findings suggest that integration of models and/or interventions is a delicate balance of art and design, and can be altered by such things as dose, philosophy, and placement of psychosocial treatments. / Master of Science

No description available.

The purpose of this project was two-fold. First the intent was to learn about the strengths of caregivers and bring the more latent view of caregivers as "strengthed" rather than stressed to the forefront. Second, the study explored the usefulness of applying a competency-based therapy approach to caregiver issues and experiences. Specifically, twelve caregivers of adults were self-referred and participated in a weekly group over the course of a six week time frame. The study addressed a gap of a strength discourse in the literature on adult caregivers, and also provides important information about the breadth of the applicability of a competency-based therapy approach with older adults in a group setting. A qualitative research design was employed, the approaches of ethnography and action research were the specific types of qualitative methods for this project. An analysis was performed of qualitative data that consisted of transcripts of fieldnotes and audiotaped focus group interviews. Six major themes that emerged from the analysis of the data included: self-care, guidance, togetherness, separation, relationship with family members, and caregivers as experts. These themes are discussed as they relate to caregiver strengths. Suggestions for future research and for clinical practice are considered in conjunction with the need to provide valuable information about family enrichment with caregivers, and new interventions that build on a strength discourse. / Ph. D.

This thesis is a study of the experiences of nurses who have undertaken training in Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). While the clinical outcomes of using SFBT, and other psychological therapies, to treat clients have been the subject of much research, the outcomes of training therapists to use SFBT has been relatively unexplored. It is, therefore, my intention to address, in part, this uncharted area of practice. Utilising a mixed methodology, the study is divided into two Stages. In Stage I, an original Solution Focused (SF) methodology is developed and used to conduct individual interviews with twenty participants. Interviews are transcribed and treated as narrative texts, and are then subjected to multi-factored analysis enabling the synthesis of a ‘group narrative’ and the construction of a typology of experience. In Stage II, I conduct further in-depth interviews with three of the original participants and utilise a hermeneutic methodology, drawing on the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer, to engage with the texts generated from these interviews. The texts are explored thematically, and through the nursing metaparadigm of Jacqueline Fawcett, and are compared with a metaparadigm of SF practice. The research suggests that training is SFBT can have a profound effect on the clinical practice, and professional identity, of nurses, and that this is related to the paradigm of nursing which informs their practice. Where the nursing paradigm is of the dominant ‘assessment and delivery of care needs’ modality, SFBT training has little to offer the nurse; however, where the nursing paradigm reflects an ‘interpersonal, dynamic’ modality based on shared relationships, training in SFBT can be a transformative experience for the nurse. This research makes an original contribution to the field of SFBT and to our understanding of the relationship between SFBT and nursing. Building on the work of earlier scholars, it argues that SFBT is congruent with some nursing paradigms, and not all nursing paradigms as previously suggested. It also advances our understanding of how the scope and field of SF practice may be delineated.

The students participating in my development work will work with a process book for handicraft studies. In the beginning of their studies, the students need practical knowledge about the development of the profession itself, but they also need to be challenged and learn how to solve problems on their own which will help them gain a deeper knowledge of the subject.     I focus on open questions to create a process with the students. This process is created when working with Solution-Focused-Education. Through “assessment for learning” we can help the students to improve their self-assessment and understanding of the learning process. Assessment for learning also requires a communication between student and teacher, student and student and between teacher and teacher. The process book is to be used where communication and dialog already exist between the teacher and the student, as a way to enhance the knowledge. By using this kind of teaching method I have grown as a teacher. I have also felt that the students have gained a greater understanding for the craft work and have acquired a new way of embracing the knowledge. The student’s development has become more personal and the “tacit knowledge” has been more visible through the written communication. Key words: Solution-Focused-Education, Assessment for learning, process book, communication. / En processbok inom hantverket är vad eleverna i mitt utvecklingsarbete kommer att arbeta med. I starten av en utbildning behöver eleverna stora kunskaper om hur yrket kommer att utvecklas men framförallt behöver eleverna utmanas och tränar på att lösa många problem själva för att ha möjlighet att lära sig mer om ämnet Fokus ligger på öppna frågor för att skapa en process hos eleverna. En process med eleven skapas när man arbetar med lösningsinriktad pedagogik förkortat LIP. Genom den formativa bedömningen kan man skapa plats för elevens självvärdering och förståelse kring lärprocessen. Formativ bedömning förutsätter även att man skapar kommunikation mellan elev och lärare, elev och elev och mellan lärare och lärare. Processboken används där en kommunikation och dialog sker mellan lärare och elev för att locka fram och stärka kunskaperna. Genom användningen av den här typen av undervisningssätt har jag utvecklats som lärare. Men jag har även upplevt att elevens förståelse för det nya hantverket har stärkts och lockat fram ett nytt sätt att se på kunskapen. Elevernas sätt att utveckla sig på har jag sett mer personlig och den tysta kunskapen har blivit lite mer synlig genom en skriftlig kommunikation. Nyckelord: Lösningsinriktad pedagogik, formativ bedömning, processbok, kommunikation

Thesis (D. Min.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-99).

Most of studies have revealed that children entering foster care have various mental health problems and need help of mental health care professionals. Unfortunately, many authors notice that psychological help rendered for foster children lack organization, for mental health care professionals giving services for foster children are forced to use methods, which empirically are tested among adults or among children having specific mental health disorders or to use methods without empirical proof. Thus issue concerning effective psychotherapeutic methods for foster children remains especially relevant. The aim of the study is to assess the potential of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) improving psychosocial functioning of adolescents in foster care and factors related to better outcome of the SFBT. Research group consisted of 228 adolescents living in foster care homes (12-18 years old). 47 adolescents participated in SFBT group, 47 adolescents from the rest of the group were selected for control group. Research methods: 1) three methods for evaluation of psychosocial functioning; 2) five methods for evaluation of intervention outcomes. Research consisted of three stages: 1) evaluation of the psychosocial functioning of adolescents living in foster care; 2) intervention for treatment group; 3) evaluation of the changes in psychosocial functioning after the period of 6 weeks since first evaluation. Research results demonstrated that SFBT is an effective method for... [to full text] / Tyrimai rodo, kad į valstybės globą patenka psichikos sveikatos sunkumų turintys vaikai, kuriems būtina įvairių psichikos sveikatos priežiūros specialistų pagalba. Vis tik pastebima, kad psichologinė pagalba globojamiems vaikams ne tik Lietuvoje, bet ir užsienyje dažniausia teikiama nesistemingai, taikant metodus, kurių efektyvumas patvirtintas kitose amžiaus, socialinio statuso ar problemų grupėse, tad specifinių psichologinės pagalbos metodų, efektyviai veikiančių būtent globojamų vaikų grupėje, klausimas išlieka itin aktualus. Pagrindinis šio tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti Į sprendimus sutelkto trumpalaikio konsultavimo (SSTK) galimybes, skatinant geresnį globojamų paauglių psichologinį-socialinį funkcionavimą ir problemų sprendimą, bei veiksnius, susijusius su geresniais konsultavimo rezultatais. Tyrime dalyvavo 228 paaugliai (12-18 m.), gyvenantys vaikų globos namuose. 47 iš jų buvo konsultuoti, taikant SSTK modelį, 47 – sudarė kontrolinę grupę. Tyrime taikyti metodai: 1) trys psichologinio-socialinio funkcionavimo vertinimo metodai, 2) penki poveikio efektyvumo vertinimo metodai. Tyrimo planą sudarė trys etapai: 1) vaikų globos namuose gyvenančių paauglių psichologinio-socialinio funkcionavimo tyrimas; 2) poveikio vykdymas; 3) vaikų globos namuose gyvenančių paauglių psichologinio-socialinio funkcionavimo pokyčių, praėjus šešioms savaitėms po pirmojo įvertinimo, tyrimas. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad SSTK yra efektyvus vaikų globos namuose gyvenančių paauglių problemoms... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Thesis (M. A.) (Hons) -- University of Western Sydney, 2004. / A thesis submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Hons) at University of Western Sydney, 2004. Includes bibliographical references and appendices.