Solution Focused Counseling Activities for School Counselors

Solution-focused counseling (SFC) is a super useful tool for school counselors to have at their disposal. That is because SFC is a time-efficient approach that is known to be effective cross-culturally, is trauma sensitive and empowering for students, and research supports its positive effect on externalizing behaviors. There is less research on the effectiveness of SFC on internalizing concerns, but it looks promising (especially as an early intervention!).  SFC can be great to use if a child has been struggling, and you’ve determined that their behavior is coming from lagging skills in areas of self-awareness, self-competence, identifying solutions to a problem, making and keeping friends, etc.

Solution-focused counseling may or may not have been a part of your school counseling graduate program, but hopefully this post will give you some background and steps you can take to use it in your practice. Plus, there’s a case study at the end to help you conceptualize the ideas even more.

Defining Solution-Focused Counseling (SFC)

Solution-focused counseling is an evidence-based, short-term counseling approach that focuses on reaching identified goals. A defining feature of this approach is how it highlights strengths and solutions and de-emphasizes problems. It is useful for a range of issues or concerns. This makes it super useful for us to have some background in because as school counselors, we certainly see it all!

Solution-focused counseling was founded on some specific beliefs:

• People already have inside of them everything they need to be successful.
• Small changes can be powerful. Big problems don’t necessarily require big solutions.
• There is always an exception to the problem which can be built upon because no problem is constant.
• Focusing on goals and solutions is more helpful than focusing on problems.
• Counselors can empower the people they serve by utilizing their strengths and cheerleading
• If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, do something different.

Core Techniques of SFC

Solution-focused counseling has many of the same features as other counseling theories like listening and validating, but it has a few unique pieces as well. In solution focused school counseling, these five techniques we’ll walk through below will, in some way, be used in most sessions you have with a child.

Noticing the Positives

This is a key attribute of solution-focused school counseling – helping kids identify their own strengths and positives in their lives that already exist. By using this strategy to build their confidence and sense of self-efficacy, you are creating a foundation that will then be used to work towards their goals. There are a lot of ways you can do this, depending on the kiddo you are working with and their level of self-awareness and competence. Starting to identify strengths might sound like:

• “What is something you like about yourself?”
• “What is something you are proud of?”
• “What is something you are good at?”

For children who need more support, think about using a strengths menu. For this activity, you provide the child with examples of strengths and ask them to identify which ones they possess already and which they might want to work on. When children demonstrate a solid understanding of self, you might use something like our strengths puzzle to express their strengths.

Once you have established some strengths, you will move to identifying positives in the child’s life, focusing more on external factors. This might sound like: 

• “What’s something that’s been going well (at school or at home or with friends)?”
• “What is something that has improved since we last talked?”
• “Who might notice positive changes that you are making?”

Scaling

This strategy is helpful in a number of ways. Scaling allows you to help children accurately decide on the size of their problem and how impactful it is and provides an understanding of the different intensities of feelings, problems, etc. that they can rely on in the future. As the counselor, it provides you with data about how they might be progressing towards the goals you set together (or not). Doing this routinely creates momentum where children can see how their problem is improving, even in small ways (emphasizing progress instead of the problem!) It also creates perspective for children so they gain an

Scaling can take on so many different forms. You can use blocks of different sizes, the amount of water in a cup, etc. Or, you can use visuals. The goal is to use something that the child will connect with. Temperature, distance to the moon, height on a ladder, volume, points vs. fouls…it’s just about finding what the child connects with (or what goes the best with their presenting issue).

When you are using these scales, you can include processing questions to dig a little deeper like:

• “What could you do to move this problem from a 5 to a 4?”
• “What would it be like if this problem was a 3?”
• “What is your brain saying when you are at an 8? What are you doing?”
• “Last week this problem was a 6 and now it is a 5. What is different?”

Goal Setting/Problem Solving

This element is included in all sessions – it includes collaborative, intentional conversation about goals (big or small) that will make a difference for that child. These conversations and activities help kiddos look at the situation from an viewpoint of optimism and hope.

You can do this in a few different ways. You might choose traditional goal-setting conversations where you discuss what they hope to learn or achieve. Maybe you try creating a road map together that outlines the specific steps and obstacles to their goals. Or, you can use an activity like memory match game to explore different ways to solve problems:

Another way to discuss goals with children is the “miracle question.” The miracle question asks children to imagine what the work would be like without this problem, opening up the conversation about how to get to that place. You can do this through conversation, writing, drawing, or acting out. This conversation might sound like this: 

What is a problem in your life that you want to go away or get better? Is it a feeling, like anger or worry? Is it a thought, like “I hate school?” Is it a behavior, like getting in trouble? Think of a magical helper you might like (potion, gem, dragon, etc.). Imagine that tonight, while you are sleeping, your tool or helper causes a bit of magic to happen. This magic has made your problem disappear! How would you know that the magic solved your problem? What would be different? What would be different about YOU? What would you be feeling, saying, or doing differently? What will other people notice about you so that they can tell this magic happened?

Cheerleading

You likely already do this because as school counselors, there are few things we love more than cheering on our kiddos! This is about doing it even more intentionally. You are highlighting their strengths, problem-solving abilities, praising things they do that are helping them move towards their goals, etc. You might say things like:

• “I notice how you paused and took a deep breath when you felt yourself getting upset.”
• “You were very brave when you shared how hard that was for you.”
• “You’re really getting better at noticing your anger building before it takes over!”
• “You are so good at explaining what you are feeling.”

Experiments/Homework

Another feature of solution-focused counseling is the use of experiments and homework. These are created together as a way to give the child control over their problem and test out how small changes can have an impact before your next session. This homework should be something you decide together that they can do before your next meeting, a small step forward. Homework could look like:

• For your child who is using a lot of negative self talk before math class, you might have them try to change that negative talk into something more positive and record the differences they notice.
• For a kiddo who blurts a lot in class and is feeling badly about getting in trouble, you might decide that they will write their thoughts on a sticky note and see if that helps.
• If your student is reporting that they never have anyone to play with at recess, you might have them find the exception – when was that not true?

You might use something like this worksheet to help them keep track:

Solution-Focused School Counseling Case Study

Let’s put all of these techniques together and see what they might look like in working with a specific student – like a little case study from start to finish!

You have a 3rd grader who has just started to really struggle with friendships. She is often assuming the worst about herself and her classmates. This is blocking her ability to make new friends, causing her to experience increased conflict with current friends, and is leaving her feeling very lonely at school.

Session 1:

You discuss the problem from the child’s perspective to better understand what she feels is going on. The child shares that she “has no friends and everyone hates her”. You validate those feelings of sadness, loneliness, and frustration. Then, you present the child with the scale to collect your starting point (scaling). The child indicates that this problem is an 8 right now. You wonder, “what size would you like this problem to be?” . She shares that she wishes it was a 2. That prompts you to say, “I wonder how we might get there”. To which she replies, “I have no idea.” This child is demonstrating low self-competence, and you know you are going to need to scaffold some activities to provide support in this area. Before you wrap up, you ask her the “magic question”: “What would it be like if this problem didn’t exist at all?”. She says, “I would have lots of friends to play with” (goal-setting). You end your time by praising her for being so honest (cheerleading) and sharing that you are going to work together on this. You close by having the child choose her goodbye. Today, she chose a high-five.

Session 2:

You start with a check in using the scale of your choice (scaling). You ask, “How big has this problem felt since we last talked?”. The child responds that it has still felt like a 7 this week. Then, you ask the child why they feel there has been a little improvement. They shared they had a fun time at recess with a friend one day. Today, you start by introducing the child to the strengths sort activity. She does well having the options to choose from and you occasionally scaffold by asking, “What do you think your grownups would choose?” (noticing the positives). You say, “I’m so proud of you for identifying so many of your wonderful strengths! You shared that ‘sharing and taking turns’ are a strength of yours, and that is a super important part of achieving your goal we talked about last week.” (cheerleading) You further process this activity by asking the child which strength she would like to develop. She chooses “handling feelings”. Together, you discuss how she currently handles feelings and how she would like to handle feelings and decide on a strategy to try before your next session (homework). She is going to try to take a deep breath before responding when she is feeling frustrated with a friend. You close with your goodbye routine and today, she chose a hug.

Session 3:

You greet the student and present your scale of choice (scaling). Today, she shares that the problem felt like a 5 this week. You ask, “What made things feel better?”. The child responds by sharing a story about when she was annoyed that a friend wouldn’t get off the swing. Instead of yelling at them, she took a deep breath and asked nicely for a turn. You praise her for using the strategy you discussed last week (cheerleading). Today, you have your sand tray out (check out this post for more info about using a sand tray in your practice!). You have figurines out and prompts mixed in that she has to find and respond to. The first prompt she finds is, “Think about one time that your problem was not quite as bad. Show me about that time.” She chooses a few figurines and acts out a play date she had with friends. She explained that they had so much fun, laughed together, and enjoyed pizza and a movie. You ask, “What was different at this play date than at school?”. Together, you discuss the similarities and differences (problem-solving) and come up with the next homework assignment (homework). This week, she will use self-talk to remind herself that it’s okay if her friends play with other people and it doesn’t mean they aren’t her friend anymore. She chooses a hug as her goodbye again today.

Session 4:

The student chooses a high-five as her greeting today and you get started with your scale of choice (scaling). This week, the child says her problem was a 3! You ask what steps she took that made it feel like a 3 (problem-solving). She shared a couple stories about pausing before responding and friends asking her to play, and getting invited to a birthday party this weekend. You celebrate with her and praise her for the steps she has taken to improve her situation(cheerleading). Next, you explain that she has all of the strengths that she needs to have some really awesome friendships (noticing the positives). You encourage her to keep using her strengths and strategies (homework). The session ends with your goodbye ritual.

Solution focused counseling is a fantastic tool to have at our disposal. It is an efficient, empowering, and engaging approach to helping kiddos overcome almost any obstacles they come to us with. While it may or may not be something you had background knowledge of, hopefully this post helped you learn (or review) a few new tips and tricks!

Each session will look different and how you use the solutions-focused techniques may vary, but the core beliefs will remain the same:

• People already have inside of them everything they need to be successful.
• Small changes can be powerful. Big problems don’t necessarily require big solutions.
• There is always an exception to the problem which can be built upon because no problem is constant.
• Focusing on goals and solutions is more helpful than focusing on problems.
• Counselors can empower the people they serve by utilizing their strengths and cheerleading
• If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, do something different.

If implementing these ideas on your own feels daunting, you can always use our Solutions Focused Toolkit!