Paper 1: The process of engagement is essential in practice with young people at risk of social exclusion. The elements of success in building this relationship are explored to some extent in the therapeutic literature, but do not necessarily cross the discipline divide to provide clear guidance for youth work practice. This paper explored the elements of success in engaging with vulnerable young people from the perspectives of eleven vulnerable young people and ten practitioners using Personal Construct Psychology methods to elicit and compare perceptions of the process of engagement. Professionals’ personal theories of the causation and prevention of a commonly occurring case study were also investigated for their relationship to the personal constructs guiding their practice. It was found that young people prioritised the affective elements of the relationship, but that pragmatic considerations were also of high importance to them. In contrast, professionals prioritised a commitment to young person well-being, followed by factors supporting the well-being of the practitioner including self reflection. Implications for practice include an appreciation of the factors important to young people, such as genuine warmth and affect, and pragmatics that make a worker more accessible such as ad hoc availability and approachability. Paper 2: Vulnerable young people access services such as Youth Services and Youth Offending Services. Professionals in this sector have limited access to Educational Psychology. Educational Psychologists are increasingly working outside traditional settings in Community Educational Psychology roles, however more evidence is needed to illustrate the diverse possibilities of practice. This paper explores the role and perceived impact on practice of a Community Educational Psychologist coaching six, monthly sessions of Solution-Focused peer supervision with three professional peer groups from Youth Services, Youth Offending Services and Police Youth Intervention. Personal construct shifts regarding the elements of success in engaging with vulnerable young people were measured pre- and post-intervention along with role and impact themes identified through observation diaries and post-intervention semi-structured interviews. Findings included the importance of the non-intervention specific elements of the psychological supervision, the impact of Solution-Focused techniques as both a tool and process for professional development, and recommendations for further support for professionals working with vulnerable young people.

<p>Coaching har blivit en trend i vårt samhälle och denna studie kan ses som en resa genom ”coachingdjungeln”. Undersökningen består av strukturerade telefonintervjuer blandat med litteratur- och artikelstudier där syftet var att ta reda på i vilken utsträckning NLP – <em>neurolingvistisk programmering</em> – förekommer i coaching av arbetslösa och hur det används. Urvalsgruppen finns i 14 av Sveriges 21 län och består av kommunala, privata och statligt anställda jobbcoacher som arbetar med individer som står utanför arbetsmarknaden. Resultatet visar att NLP i coaching av arbetslösa inte är en vanlig modell utan det lösningsfokuserade arbetssättet dominerar. Studien belyser att förhållningssätt, begrepp, metoder, inställning till klienter och kommunikativa verktyg är centralt inom all coaching. Undersökningens resultat visar att likheter finns mellan olika coaching- och vägledningsmodellers innehåll fast de kan ha olika benämningar inom respektive modell. Studien visar också coachingens för- och nackdelar samt tankar kring utbildning, professionalitet och yrkestiteln ”coach”.</p> / <p>Coaching has become a trend in our society and this study can be seen as an expedition through the “coaching jungle”. The inquiry consists of structured interviews by telephone mixed by studies of related literature and articles, where the purpose was to find out to what extent NLP – <em>Neuro Linguistic Programming </em>– occurs in coaching of the unemployed and to what extent it is used in coaching. The selection-group can be found in 14 of the 21 counties of Sweden and it contains job coaches from the local government, private and also staff from the public sector who works with unemployed. The results exhibit that NLP is not a regular model in coaching of unemployed – instead the solution-focused model is quite the dominant one among the selection-group in this inquiry. The study also illustrates approaches, concepts, various methods, attitudes to the clients as well as communicative tools which are all central parts of coaching.  The survey reveals that there are similarities between the contents of different coaching- and counselling models, even though they might have different names for it.  The study shows the pros and cons of coaching in general and also thoughts and opinions of education, professionalism and the job title “coach”.</p> / Examensarbete inom påbyggnadskurs i studie- och yrkesvägledning, studie- och yrkesvägledarprogrammet

<p>The 1990s were a period of economic crisis and mass unemployment. The dissertation shows that in the labour market policy guidelines in the period 1978–2004, a dichotomy was constructed between, on the one hand, a group of unemployed described in positive terms as potentially able to gain new employment, and, on the other hand, a group – referred to in the dissertation as the Others – whose exclusion and marginalisation were seen as permanent. </p><p>Unemployment has not always been defined as a social problem. The nature of the problem of unemployment has been understood and conceptu­alised differently over time. Frames of interpretation contribute to the construction and/or reproduction of categories of unemployed within the context of active Swedish labour market policies. The point of departure for the study is that the definition of social problems is a complex process of social construction. It is an active process of re(construction), in which certain problems become perceived as social problems while others are not. </p><p>The flexibilisation of the labour market, and of labour market policy, is an institutional and discursive process that leads to new categorisations and otherings on the labour market.<i> </i></p><p>In the wake of the 1990s crisis, and of the more structural transformation of the Swedish labour market, a group of long-term unemployed has emerged. In the official guidelines of the labour market policy, the recommendations are to treat this group within the framework of the measures and activities that earlier applied to groups with disabilities. In this process, the structural labour market problem becomes defined politically in terms of individual disabilities. This is not only a process of individualisation, but also a process of medicalization. In this manner, unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, becomes analogous to disability.</p>

The 1990s were a period of economic crisis and mass unemployment. The dissertation shows that in the labour market policy guidelines in the period 1978–2004, a dichotomy was constructed between, on the one hand, a group of unemployed described in positive terms as potentially able to gain new employment, and, on the other hand, a group – referred to in the dissertation as the Others – whose exclusion and marginalisation were seen as permanent. Unemployment has not always been defined as a social problem. The nature of the problem of unemployment has been understood and conceptu­alised differently over time. Frames of interpretation contribute to the construction and/or reproduction of categories of unemployed within the context of active Swedish labour market policies. The point of departure for the study is that the definition of social problems is a complex process of social construction. It is an active process of re(construction), in which certain problems become perceived as social problems while others are not. The flexibilisation of the labour market, and of labour market policy, is an institutional and discursive process that leads to new categorisations and otherings on the labour market. In the wake of the 1990s crisis, and of the more structural transformation of the Swedish labour market, a group of long-term unemployed has emerged. In the official guidelines of the labour market policy, the recommendations are to treat this group within the framework of the measures and activities that earlier applied to groups with disabilities. In this process, the structural labour market problem becomes defined politically in terms of individual disabilities. This is not only a process of individualisation, but also a process of medicalization. In this manner, unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, becomes analogous to disability.

Coaching har blivit en trend i vårt samhälle och denna studie kan ses som en resa genom ”coachingdjungeln”. Undersökningen består av strukturerade telefonintervjuer blandat med litteratur- och artikelstudier där syftet var att ta reda på i vilken utsträckning NLP – neurolingvistisk programmering – förekommer i coaching av arbetslösa och hur det används. Urvalsgruppen finns i 14 av Sveriges 21 län och består av kommunala, privata och statligt anställda jobbcoacher som arbetar med individer som står utanför arbetsmarknaden. Resultatet visar att NLP i coaching av arbetslösa inte är en vanlig modell utan det lösningsfokuserade arbetssättet dominerar. Studien belyser att förhållningssätt, begrepp, metoder, inställning till klienter och kommunikativa verktyg är centralt inom all coaching. Undersökningens resultat visar att likheter finns mellan olika coaching- och vägledningsmodellers innehåll fast de kan ha olika benämningar inom respektive modell. Studien visar också coachingens för- och nackdelar samt tankar kring utbildning, professionalitet och yrkestiteln ”coach”. / Coaching has become a trend in our society and this study can be seen as an expedition through the “coaching jungle”. The inquiry consists of structured interviews by telephone mixed by studies of related literature and articles, where the purpose was to find out to what extent NLP – Neuro Linguistic Programming – occurs in coaching of the unemployed and to what extent it is used in coaching. The selection-group can be found in 14 of the 21 counties of Sweden and it contains job coaches from the local government, private and also staff from the public sector who works with unemployed. The results exhibit that NLP is not a regular model in coaching of unemployed – instead the solution-focused model is quite the dominant one among the selection-group in this inquiry. The study also illustrates approaches, concepts, various methods, attitudes to the clients as well as communicative tools which are all central parts of coaching.  The survey reveals that there are similarities between the contents of different coaching- and counselling models, even though they might have different names for it.  The study shows the pros and cons of coaching in general and also thoughts and opinions of education, professionalism and the job title “coach”. / Examensarbete inom påbyggnadskurs i studie- och yrkesvägledning, studie- och yrkesvägledarprogrammet

Adolescents with health disorders experience an increased risk of psychological functioning problems. However, the lack of availability of psychological help and research on methods’ effectiveness in this group is still being extensively discussed worldwide. Theoretical assumptions of the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), closely related to the ideas of constructivism and systems theory, indicate that therapeutic effect of the model can be viewed as not limited to changes in the problem presented for the therapy, but as having potential of spreading into other areas of psychological functioning. Thus the aim of the dissertation is to estimate the changes in the severity of psychological functioning problems during SFBT among in-patient and out-patient adolescents experiencing mental or physical health disorders. Participants were 12-18 year old out-patients of two primary mental health care centers and in-patients of a rehabilitation hospital (N=131). Treatment group consisted of 23 out-patients and 21 in-patients (control groups accordingly 23 and 28 adolescents). Changes in the severity of problems presented for the therapy were assessed by The Therapist’s Evaluation of Improvement and The Client’s Evaluation of Progress, while the severity of psychological functioning problems and its changes were assessed by Standardized Interview for the Evaluation of Adolescents’ Problems and Checklist of Adolescent Behavior Changes. Results of the study revealed that mental... [to full text] / Sveikatos sutrikimų turintys paaugliai susiduria su padidėjusia psichologinio funkcionavimo problemų rizika. Tačiau dažnai diskutuojama psichologinės pagalbos prieinamumo ir metodų efektyvumo tyrimų šioje grupėje trūkumo problema. Darbe tyrinėjamo į sprendimus sutelkto trumpalaikio konsultavimo (SSTK) prielaidos, kurios glaudžiai siejasi su konstruktyvizmo ir bendrosios sistemų teorijos idėjomis, leidžia galvoti, kad SSTK terapinis poveikis neapsiriboja tik konkrečios problemos sprendimu, bet turi galimybę išsiplėsti į kitas psichologinio funkcionavimo sritis. Tad šio tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti dėl psichikos ir somatinės sveikatos sutrikimų gydomų paauglių psichologinio funkcionavimo problemų laipsnio kitimą SSTK metu. Tyrime dalyvavo 131 vienoje reabilitacijos ligoninėje ir dviejuose pirminės psichikos sveikatos priežiūros centruose gydomas 12 – 18 m. paauglys. Poveikio grupę sudarė 23 PPSPC ir 21 reabilitacinės ligoninės pacientas (kontrolines grupes – atitinkamai 23 ir 28). Konsultavime sprendžiamų problemų sunkumo pokyčiams vertinti taikyti Kliento vertinamas problemos sprendimo progresas ir Konsultanto vertinamo problemos sprendimo progreso skalė, o psichologinio funkcionavimo problemų laipsniui ir jo kitimui vertinti – Standartizuotas interviu paauglių problemoms įvertinti ir Paauglio elgesio klausimynas. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad psichikos sveikatos sutrikimas paauglių psichologinį funkcionavimą paveikia labiau nei somatinės sveikatos sutrikimas, tačiau savęs... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Darbo tikslas - nustatyti noro tęsti savanorišką veiklą Jaunimo linijoje sąsajas su įsitraukimu ir pasitenkinimu darbu bei šių veiksnių pokyčius į sprendimus sutelktos refleksijos metu. Tyrime dalyvavo 62 savanoriai, savanoriaujantys Jaunimo linijoje Vilniuje, Kaune ir Klaipėdoje. Jų tarpe buvo 53 moterys ir 9 vyrai. Savanorių amžius svyravo nuo 18 iki 36 metų. Į sprendimus sutelkta refleksijas užpildė 17 savanorių iš Kauno. Tyrimas parodė, jog žmonėms renkantis savanorišką veiklą Jaunimo linijoje svarbiausia yra padėti kitiems žmonėms, tobulinti save ir įgyti patirties ir šie trys motyvai yra labiausiai patenkinami savanoriaujant. Nors skirtumų tarp savanorių nustatyta mažai, moterys labiau nei vyrai įsitraukusios į darbą ir patenkintos darbo pobūdžiu, o psichologai ir supervizoriai jaučiasi labiausiai patenkinantys savo motyvus lyginant su kitais savanoriais. Tyrimu nustatyta, kad didėjant motyvų patenkinimui didėja pasitenkinimas darbu ir įsitraukimas į darbą. Taip pat nustatyta, kad noras tęsti savanorišką veiklą susijęs su didesniu motyvų, dėl kurių ši veikla pasirinkta, patenkinimu, saviveiksmingumu, įsitraukimu ir pasitenkinimu darbu. Taikant standartizuotus metodus, nenustatyti noro tęsti savanorišką veiklą JL, saviveiksmingumo, įsitraukimo į darbą ir pasitenkinimo darbu pokyčiai į sprendimus sutelktos refleksijos metu. Tačiau refleksijų atsakymų analizė atskleidžia, kad daugiau nei pusė savanorių įvardina pokyčius tarp refleksijų, kurie leidžia jiems manyti, jog... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of the work – determine correlation between the wish to continue voluntary work in Jaunimo linija, involvement and job satisfaction and changes of these factors during the Solution focused reflection. 62 volunteers from Jaunimo linija in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda participated in the survey. Between them were 53 females and 9 males. Age group of the volunteers was from 18 till 36 years. Solution focused reflection filled 17 volunteers from Kaunas. The survey revealed, that people, who choose voluntary work in Jaunimo linija appreciate the help to other people, self improvement and experience achievement the most and these tree motives are the most fulfilled during volunteering. Though there are little differences found, females are more involved into the job and more satisfied with the job nature than males, and psychologists and supervisors fulfill their motives the most, comparing with other volunteers. The survey defined that job satisfaction and job involvement is increasing with the growth of motives fulfillment. Also, was defined that the wish to continue voluntary work is related to the better motive‘s (why this work was chosen) fulfillment, self-efficacy, involvement and job satisfaction. There was found no changes of wish to continuing volunteering, self-efficacy, job involvement and job satisfaction during Solution focused reflection using standardize methods. The analysis of Solution focused answers revealed, that more than half volunteers names... [to full text]

Background & objective Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI) have been the treatment of choice for problem or pathological gambling in the field in Western countries, and their efficacy has been supported by a considerable empirical research. Alternative treatments are little known; and such treatments for minority ethnic populations have been scarce. This study adopted Kazdin‘s procedures for assessing the acceptability of treatments (Kazdin, 1980a, 1980b, 1981) to test alternative treatments of problem or pathological gambling as a part of the broadening of treatment choices. This thesis presented 2009 survey results from counselling service providers in New Zealand on the acceptability of alternative treatments to problem or pathological gambling. The thesis, therefore, reports the responses of counsellors to counselling vignette case examples, not the views of actual clients viewing counselling. Methods The survey pack was distributed to counselling service providers in New Zealand. The survey included descriptions of sixteen vignettes of case examples of counselling treatments. Categories of clients in the vignette case examples included two genders (male, female) and three ethnicities (Pakeha, Maori, and Asian). Four counselling treatment conditions were selected from Solution-Focused Brief Counselling (SFBC), SFBC+Multicultural Counselling (SFBC+MC), Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Motivational Interviewing (MI). CBT and MI were only administered to Pakeha clients for the purpose of comparison of the alternatives. Two measurements were used. The first a modified Problem Gambling Treatment Evaluation Inventory (TEI) was used to measure the acceptability levels of the alternative treatments for problem or pathological gambling. The Cross-Cultural Counselling Inventory-Revised (CCCI-R) was used for measuring the perceived cross-cultural competency of counsellors depicted in the vignette case examples. Findings Counsellors‘ ratings of the vignette case examples revealed the following findings: Measurement 1: Problem Gambling Treatment Evaluation Inventory (TEI). Overall, 1) The survey results of TEI questionnaires showed significant main effects across the four treatment conditions and the three client ethnicities, and there was no difference according to client genders. 1.1) SFBC+MC and SFBC were slightly more acceptable than CBT, and much more acceptable than MI. 1.2) The TEI scores for Pakeha clients were much higher than for Maori clients, and the scores for the Asian clients were in between. 2) There was a significant interaction effect between the four treatments and the three client ethnicities. 2.1) For Maori clients: SFBC+MC was much more acceptable than SFBC; for Pakeha clients: SFBC+MC was the most acceptable, closely followed by SFBC, CBT, then MI; and for Asian clients: SFBC was more acceptable than SFBC+MC. 2.2) SFBC+MC was most acceptable to Maori clients across all treatments and ethnic groups. 2.3) The variation in acceptability ratings for SFBC was larger than for SFBC+MC in Maori and Asian clients, and less variable in Pakeha. 2.4) Maori clients had the largest mean variation between SFBC and SFBC+MC, and Pakeha clients had the smallest mean variation. Measurement 2: Cross-Cultural Counselling Inventory-Revised (CCCI-R). The survey results of the CCCI-R showed significant main effects across the four treatment conditions and the three ethnicities. 1) The counsellors depicted in the vignette case examples under the SFBC+MC treatment condition were rated with the highest mean competence score and least variability across all the treatments and the ethnicities, the MI treatment condition were rated with the lowest mean score, CBT and SFBC were in between. 2) The counsellors described in the vignette case examples were rated more culturally competent with Pakeha clients and Maori clients than with Asian clients in the vignette case examples, the rating levels for both Pakeha and Maori were similar. 3) The Maori client in the vignette case examples had the largest mean gap between SFBC and SFBC+MC, and Pakeha client in the vignette case examples had the smallest mean gap. Clinical implications The tests of the acceptability of alternative treatment for problem or pathological gambling could provide useful information about 1) whether the above alternatives would be recommended or selected by the counselling service providers in their clinical practice, 2) which treatment would be more/less preferred by which ethnic group, 3) whether it would work or be worth the efforts to introduce or promote the above alternatives to the counselling service providers, 4) what needs to be explored for increasing levels of the acceptability of alternative treatment to problem or pathological gambling, 5) adding training in the techniques to counsellors training programme and curricula. The limitation of this study was discussed and future research was suggested.

Novice solution-focused brief therapists often have difficulty delivering scaling questions within the languaging of their clients. To help beginning Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) trainees, this researcher has created the metaphorically enhanced scaling question (MESQ) training program. By incorporating a meaning making system such as the metaphor, the scaling question becomes expressive and symbolic to the client and his or her own story. The MESQ objective is to assist novice therapists in facilitating the SFBT scaling question creatively through the use of metaphor. A metaphor is a created meaning isomorphic to its original meaning or experience. The metaphor will be co-constructed through collaboration between client and therapist. The MESQ program encompasses three key elements of SFBT: listening, selecting, and building into three tangible activities designed for novice therapists to learn, articulate, and demonstrate their comprehension of the modified scaling technique (Bavelas, De Jong, Franklin, Froerer, Gingerich, Kim, Korman, Langer, Lee, McCullum, Jordan, & Trepper, 2013) This research is qualitative in nature, due to the examined experiences of the MESQ training program participants. Action research has been chosen to emphasize the learning aspect, and assist in training development. The MESQ training program will be evaluated based on Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluating training programs: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. (Kirkpatrick, 1996). The focus of this research project will be to refine and develop the MESQ training program through analytic evaluation.

Text in Afrikaans / Some of the limited research available on narrative reflecting team therapy was used in this study to develop a reflecting team therapy story. The reflecting team therapy story was developed using qualitative methodology in the form of an experimental text, which was strongly influenced by narrative discourse. The adopted methodology contributed to allowing the reflecting team therapy story as experienced by the client to speak very clearly to us. The following issues, inter alia, emerged: therapy is faster, clients are empowered, gender is important in therapy, the process is promoted by the multiplic ity of interactions and clients experience a scense of enpathy. The reflecting team therapy story can therefore serve as a working document which the reader can co-author. In the true spirit of narrative methology, I believe that every story contains an alternative story. There is no one true and final story. / Van die beperkte beskikbare navorsing oor reflekterende spanwerk is in hierdie studie gebruik om 'n reflekteringspanterapieverhaal daar te stel. Die reflekteringspanterapieverhaal is ontwikkel deur gebruik te maak van kwalitatiewe metodologie, in die vorm van 'n 'experimentele teks', wat sterk deur narratiewe diskoerse belnvloed is. Die veranderde metodologie het daartoe bygedra dat die verhaal van die reflekteringspanterapie soos ervaar deur die klient baie duidelik tot ons spreek. Die volgende sake het onder andere na vore getree: terapie is vinniger, kliente word bemagtig, geslag is van belang by terapie, die proses word bevorder as gevolg van die meervoudigheid van interaksie en kliente beleef 'n gevoel van empatie. Die reflekteringspanterapieverhaal kan dus dien as 'n werksdokument waaraan die leser as ko-redakteur deelneem. In die ware gees van narratiewe metodologie glo ek dat daar in elke verhaal 'n alternatiewe verhaal skuil. Daar is dus geen ware en finale verhaal nie. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Praktiese Teologie)