How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 263

one should do these things. As the client follows this paradoxical directive, a sense of control over the symptom
often develops, resulting in subsequent change.

 QUESTIONS
1. THE MIRACLE QUESTION:
Suppose that one night, while you were asleep, there was a miracle and this problem was solved. How would
you know? What would be different?
This type of question seems to make a problem-free future more real and therefore more likely to occur.
The therapist gives guidelines and information to help the client go directly to a more satisfactory future.
2. FAST-FORWARDING QUESTIONS
can be used when clients can’t identify exceptions or past solutions. Clients are asked to envision a future
without the problem and describe what that looks like. (The miracle question or a magic wand question). =>
“What will not would be different?”
3. THE EXCEPTION QUESTION:
Asks the client to focus on times when problem does not occur or has not occurred when they expected it
would. They may discover solutions they had forgotten or not noticed. The therapist might find clues on which
to build future solutions.
Example: “What is different about those times when things are working?”
4. STRATEGIC BASIC QUESTIONS:
For a strategic therapist two questions are basic: How is the symptom “helping” the family to maintain a balance
or overcome a crisis? How can the symptom be replaced by a more effective solution of the problem?
5. PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS:
The therapist attempts to recreate typical family interactions and conversation through provocative questioning
techniques so that the problems can be presented and addressed accordingly. It also give family members a
chance to see how their interactions and responses can contribute to a dysfunctional situation.
6. SCALING QUESTIONS AND PERCENTAGE QUESTIONS
Scaling questions are tools that are used to identify useful differences for the client and may help to establish
goals as well. The poles of a scale can be defined in a bespoke way each time the question is asked, but typically
range from "the worst the problem has ever been" (zero or one) to "the best things could ever possibly be" (ten).
The client is asked to rate their current position on the scale, and questions are then used to help the client
identify resources (e.g. "what's stopping you from slipping one point lower down the scale?"), exceptions (e.g.
"on a day when you are one point higher on the scale, what would tell you that it was a 'one point higher' day?")
and to descr