Children's Solution Work

by Berg,Insoo Kim

• ISBN13: 9780393703870
• ISBN10: 0393703878
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-01-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Therapists often despair when considering using Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), so successful with adults, with children. Insoo Kim Berg and Therese Steiner show this despair to be unwarranted. These two master therapists lead readers through a series of conceptual and practical steps that elucidate just how the nonverbal, playful, and creative habits of children can support successful therapy based on the SFBT model.Children's Solution Work is necessary reading for anyone who associates with children and takes a concern for their development?linicians, social workers, teachers, daycare workers, and parents. By focusing on and expanding the bases for engagement and communication between adult and child, Berg and Steiner provide adaptable tools for diagnosis, therapy, and negotiating differences at home.Full of examples and case studies, the Children's Solution Work demonstrates creative techniques and strategies for working with children without relying exclusively on language or conceptual thinking. The application of these techniques is discussed in various contexts and situations, including adapting them to suit cases of children with uncommon needs. Berg and Steiner also address questions typically raised by clinicians about the use of SFBT with children and consider the usefulness of this form of SFBT when working with adolescents.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	xiii
What is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy	1	(12)
The Basics of SFBT	1	(3)
SFBT Versus Traditional Play Therapy	4	(2)
Problem-Solving Assumptions and Procedures	6	(1)
Thinking Out of the Box	7	(1)
Cultural Competence	8	(5)
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and Children: A Natural Fit	13	(7)
Learning Children's Ways	13	(3)
Assumptions We Hold in Working with Children and Parents	16	(4)
It's a Matter of Technique	20	(12)
Exception-Finding Questions	21	(1)
Scaling Questions	21	(2)
Miracle Questions	23	(1)
Coping Questions	24	(1)
Details, Details, and More Details: Expansion and Follow-Up	25	(1)
Thinking Break	26	(1)
Ways to Organize Your Reflections	27	(1)
Second and Subsequent Sessions	28	(4)
Assessing Your Clients, Agreeing on Goals	32	(16)
Assessing the Child	33	(2)
Assessing the Family	35	(5)
Children Who Do Not Respond Quickly	40	(1)
Goal Negotiations: Guide for Successful Outcome	41	(7)
Let's Get To It!	48	(20)
Getting Started	48	(17)
Networking with Other Professionals	65	(3)
Communicating with Children on Their Own Terms	68	(49)
Provide a Comfortable Setting	68	(3)
Children as Solution Finders	71	(3)
Naming and Visualizing the Change	74	(4)
Working with Hand Puppets	78	(3)
Stories	81	(8)
Drawing Pictures	89	(10)
Games and Playing	99	(6)
Scaling	105	(3)
Experiments	108	(3)
Do Something Different	111	(3)
Do More	114	(3)
Treating Children with Uncommon Needs	117	(66)
Assessing a Child with Uncommon Needs	118	(4)
Solutions for Difficult Situations	122	(4)
Assessment as Intervention	126	(1)
Frequently Asked Questions	127	(56)
Making a Difference with Teenagers	183	(47)
A Glimpse into Adolescence	184	(1)
Differences Between Childhood and Adolescence	185	(7)
Beginning Therapy with Adolescents	192	(3)
Simple Rules for Parents	195	(9)
Involuntary Clients	204	(18)
Treating Anorexia and Other Eating Disorders	222	(8)
Looking from the Therapist's Chair	230	(11)
Postscript	241	(2)
Appendix	243	(2)
References	245	(2)
Index	247