Counseling Toward Solutions: A Practical Solution-Focused Program for Working with Students, Teachers, and Parents (Jossey-Bass Teacher) (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: solution focus, school client, scaling question, Counseling Toward Solutions, Creating Possibilities Through Language, Solution-Focused Training Exercise (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When it was first published in 1995, Linda Metcalf’s book Counseling Toward Solutions became an instant bestseller. Written for counselors and teachers at all levels, this revised and updated second edition of Counseling Toward Solutions presents a positive program for changing individual behavior that empowers students of all ages to deal with their own problems, gaining self-esteem in the process.

From the Back Cover

Counseling Toward SolutionsSecond Edition

When it was first published in 1995, Linda Metcalf's book Counseling Toward Solutions became an instant bestseller. Written for counselors and teachers at all levels, this revised and updated second edition presents a positive program for changing individual behavior that empowers students of all ages to deal with their own problems and gain self-esteem in the process.

Step by step, the book shows how to help individual students begin their own change process by noticing when a problem does not occur—that is, when things go better than normal—rather than focusing on the problem or what caused it. This approach, called Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, has been used by private counselors and therapists and is now being applied in K-12 schools with great success.

In this book veteran school counselor Linda Metcalf offers guidelines for dealing with specific problems ranging from incomplete homework to child abuse and depression. She offers techniques that are equally useful in one-on-one counseling and small group settings, and she provides ways to help non-counseling staff use the solution-focused approach. Metcalf covers a wealth of topics, including:

• Helping students set their own goals,change their own behavior, and rebuildtheir reputations

• Identifying "exceptions" to a student'snegative behavior

• Working with students who are frustrated, sad, or unmotivated

• Specific strategies for parent conferences and student-teacher problem resolution

• Sample dialogues showing what to say and questions to ask

In addition, the book offers more than 80 reproducible worksheets and student handouts.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 2 edition (March 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787998060
• ISBN-13: 978-0787998066
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #284,923 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful strategies for counseling in the school environment, April 25, 2000

By	Ann Terrill-Torrez (Denver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Counseling Toward Solutions: A Practical Solution-Focused Program for Working With Students, Teachers and Parents (Spiral-bound)

Ms. Metcalf's strategies for applying solution-focused approaches with students, faculty,parents and administrators create a powerful vision for changing the fabric of school culture through utilizing the strengths and successes already present and happening every day in every school. I found this book a refreshing and thought provoking alternative to hiring expensive consultants to fix our schools. Second - order change at its best!

4.0 out of 5 stars A helpful resource for school counselors, April 4, 2009

By	Liana Lowenstein "Author of, "Creative In... (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is an invaluable resource for school counselors seeking creative techniques to use with children. Readers may also be interested in the following books:

Assessment and Treatment Activities for Children, Adolescents, and Families: Practitioners Share Their Most Effective Techniques

Creative Interventions for Troubled Children & Youth

School-Based Play Therapy

4.0 out of 5 stars A clerly-written, useful book for School Counselors, September 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Counseling Toward Solutions: A Practical Solution-Focused Program for Working With Students, Teachers and Parents (Spiral-bound)

This book is a practical resource for School Counselors. It presents the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy approach, along with providing forms that can be reproduced to integrate into your school counseling programs. Some parts are a bit repetitive, but it's an easy read that has real applications for School Counselors. Very handy!