How to Coach Yourself and Others Empowering Coaching And Crisis Interventions | Page 82
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3. Foundations of Empowering Interventions
1. Brief Solution Focused Counseling
Research Support for the Tasks and Techniques of BSFC: The “Change Pie”
The tasks and techniques of Brief Solution-Focused Counseling are supported by a large body of research on
“common factors of change” in helping relationships. These factors, and their percentage contributions to
successful outcomes, are based on over 1000 studies involving a wide range of clients, problems, settings, and
practitioners.
Client Factors (Accounting for 40% of change; the Filling).
The client is clearly the most potent factor in counseling (some research indicates an even stronger influence
than 40%). Client factors include the client’s life experiences, values, opinions, interests, successes, resilience,
and role models. Counseling outcomes depend largely on the extent to which the client’s strengths, feedback,
and other resources are integrated into therapeutic conversations and interventions (Gassman & Grawe, 2006).
Brief Solution-Focused Counseling empowers client factors by helping people discover and apply their
strengths and resources toward solutions.
Relationship Factors (Accounting for 30% of change; the Crust).
Relationship factors, the second most powerful ingredient of effective counseling, include people’s perceptions
of respect, validation, and encouragement from the practitioner. Client involvement is the centerpiece of a
strong therapeutic relationship. The client’s early ratings of the helper and helping relationship (during first
couple sessions) are highly predictive of outcomes (Norcross, 2010).
Brief Solution-Focused Counseling empowers relationship factors by involving people in every aspect of their
care, by obtaining their feedback, and by adjusting services based on their feedback.
Hope Factors (Accounting for 15% of change; the Anticipation).
Hope factors refer to people’s belief that change is possible, and confidence in their ability to change in positive
ways. Hope plays a key role in effective outcomes, though its influence is relatively smaller than client and
relationship factors. Brief Solution-Focused Counseling empowers hope factors by treating people as
resourceful and capable of changing, and by focusing on future solutions rather than past problems.
Model/Technique Factors (Accounting for 15% of change; the Topping).
Model/technique factors refer to the practitioner’s theory and related techniques. Given that no single
counseling model or set of techniques has proven superior to others in overall effectiveness (Wampold, 2010),
the most successful practitioners are flexible in their selection and application of therapeutic techniques.
Brief Solution-Focused Counseling encourages practitioners to fit themselves and their techniques to clients
instead of the other way around, and to try something different when one idea or technique is not working—in
other words, don’t marry the model or techniques!
Note: The factors above are applicable to any change-focused activity including group work, behavioral
intervention, teacher/parent consultation, assessment, and systems-level change.
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