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Models of consultation as a collaborative, problem-solving process dominate the literature and practice of school-based consultation for counselors (Dustin & Ehly, 1992; Keys, Beak, Carpenter, & King-Sears, 1998; Kurpius, 1978; Myrick, 1977; Parsons, 1996; Umansky & Holloway, 1984). While encompassing both remediation and prevention, these models highlight a problem-solving approach. These approaches focus on deficits, with an exploration of weaknesses, before proceeding to goals and solutions. This article proposes an extension of the solution-focused approach to consultation, shifting traditional emphasis from problems and deficits to solutions and strengths. It enumerates the basic assumptions of a solution-focused approach, provides a rationale for why the school setting and solution-focused consultation (SFC) work well together, and proposes steps for an SFC model. Numerous solution-focused techniques are explained followed by a case example demonstrating how the SFC approach can be employed in a school setting.
Solution-Focused School Interventions and Assumptions
Solution-focused interventions and schools seem to fit together naturally, as this approach is future-oriented, positive, and shifts the focus from the nature of the problem and places attention on goals and solutions. Solution-focused school interventions have been used successfully in individual counseling (Metcalf, 1995; Mostert, Johnson, & Mostert, 1997; Murphy 1994, 1997; Sklare, 1997; Van, 1999), in small group counseling (LaFountain & Gerner, 1996), in supervision (Juhnke, 1996; Santa Rita, 1996), and in school leadership (Paull & McGrevin, 1996). These interventions have been used successfully with varied student populations, including minority, multiethnic, and at-risk students (Van, 1999). At the core of solution-focused interventions are certain beliefs and assumptions about the structure of reality, the nature of problems, and the dynamics of change. The assumptions frame the unique qualities of a solution-focused approach as compared to more traditional approaches (see Table).
Fundamental to a solution-focused approach is the belief that reality is, in part, a social construction, created and maintained through the use of language (Guterman, 1996; Vygotsky,1962; Wittgenstein, 1968). Through language, certain events can be framed as problematic. Such experiences are perpetuated and reaffirmed as problems by the way one thinks about them and describes them to others. A physical disability or a skill deficiency, for example, becomes problematic because it is framed (constructed) in the most negative, debilitating, and pessimistic manner. Through this construction, the problem becomes an...