Integrating Solution Focused Therapy into Clinical Practice

March 20th & 21st - 8:45 am - 4:00 pm EST

12 Formal CEs approved by NASW VT for relicensure

NASW Vermont Chapter is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0683. This workshop meets the criteria for New York's professional boundaries CE requirements.

Have you heard about Solution Focused Therapy but don’t really know how and when to utilize it? Have you wanted to integrate Solution Focused techniques into you’re your toolkit of techniques? This 2-day training will teach participants how to conduct Solution Focused therapy sessions from intake through termination, and how to integrate it into their entire practice. Solution Focused Therapy focuses on "change talk" not "problem talk" and is applicable to both the micro and macro levels of working with individuals, families, groups, and couples. Solution Focused therapy assumes people have their own resources and empowers them to create and realize their own solutions. The model emphasizes strong rapport and active participation by both client and therapist.

Participants will learn a variety of interactional techniques that will enable clients to establish well-formed goals. At the end of the two days, participants will know how to conduct Solution Focused therapy sessions from intake through termination. The training will challenge participants to explore their assumptions about therapy and case management and provide them with many hands-on techniques they will be able to incorporate immediately into their work. The presenter has an exciting presenting style combining humor with the adult learning method while utilizing role plays, case examples, excellent handouts, and several recorded therapy sessions. The goal is for participants to leave with energy and enthusiasm for working with their clients and collateral colleagues.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will explain the assumptions and philosophy of Solution Focused Therapy.

2. Participants will describe the 3 possible triadic relationships between clients, goals and clinicians.

3. Participants will demonstrate goal setting using the miracle question, exploring exceptions, and measuring client progress and satisfaction.

4. Participants will demonstrate the 4 different types of scales used in a first session.

5. Participants will explain how to develop tasks for clients, including single and

multiple tasks.

6. Participants will explain the criteria for termination and how to use scaling to

determination a client’s readiness to terminate.

Presenter’s biography:

Susan Lee Tohn, MSW, LICSW, is Co-Director of Solutions. Ms. Tohn has worked with couples, adolescents, and families using the Solution Focused model. She has provided training for and consulted with management teams, mental health organizations, integrated health centers, hospitals, state child welfare organizations, managed care organizations, and has presented to professional audiences both nationally and internationally for over thirty years. Ms. Tohn is a retired Associate Professor of Clinical Practice at Boston College School of Social Work. Ms. Tohn is co-author of “Crossing the Bridge: Integrating Solution Focused Therapy into Clinical Practice” and “Solution-Focused Therapy with Mandated Clients: Cooperating with the Uncooperative,” in S. Miller, M. Hubble, & B. Duncan (Eds.), Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy.

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Host or Publisher NASW-VT