How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 91

the problem focused narrative. Undeniably, they cope and coping questions start to gently and supportively
challenge the problem-focused narrative.
Problem-free talk
In solution-focused therapy, problem-free talk can be a useful technique for identifying resources to help the
person relax, or be more assertive, for example. Solution focused therapists will talk about seemingly
irrelevant life experiences such as leisure activities, meeting with friends, relaxing and managing conflict.
The therapist can also gather information on the client's values and beliefs and their strengths. From this
discussion the therapist can use these strengths and resources to move the therapy forward. For example; if a
client wants to be more assertive it may be that under certain life situations they are assertive. This strength
from one part of their life can then be transferred to the area with the current problem. Or if a client is
struggling with their child because the child gets aggressive and calls the parent names and the parent
continually retaliates and also gets angry, then perhaps they have an area of their life where they remain
calm even under pressure; or maybe they have trained a dog successfully that now behaves and can identify
that it was the way they spoke to the dog that made the difference and if they put boundaries in place using
the same firm tonality the child might listen.
Dan Jones, in his Becoming a Brief Therapist book writes:
'...it is in the problem free areas you find most of the resources to help the client. It also relaxes them and
helps build rapport, and it can give you ideas to use for treatment...Everybody has natural resources that can
be utilised. These might be events...or talk about friends or family...The idea behind accessing resources is
that it gives you something to work with that you can use to help the client to achieve their goal...Even
negative beliefs and opinions can be utilised as resources '

Resources
A key task in SFBT is to help clients identify and attend to their skills, abilities, and external resources (e.g.
social networks). This process not only helps to construct a narrative of the client as a competent individual,
but also aims to help the client identify new ways of bringing these resources to bear upon the problem.
Resources can be identified by the client and the worker will achieve this by empowering the client to
identify their own resources through use of scaling questions, problem-free talk, or during exceptionseeking.
Resources can be Internal:
the client's skills, strengths, qualities, beliefs that are usefu