Initial
Meeting
First
Follow
Up
Maint.
Individual
Solution
Strategies
Third
Follow
Up
Second
Follow
Up
Presented by Arond Schonberg & Keith Fulthorp
If you had to develop an intervention…


The quarter grade report
just came out and you see
that your case load has
over 100 students with two
or more failing grades….
Simultaneously, the
principal prints out the
quarterly attendance
report of students with 5 or
more period cuts/absences:
your caseload has 200
students on the list….
What would an intervention look like
Brief
Effective
How would it work
Individual
Group
How would students respond
Enthusiasm
Motivation
Today’s Purpose
1.
2.
3.
4.
To provide you with an understanding of how to
use solution focused counseling with a large
number of students in the shortest time possible
To learn how to create meaningful connections for
students that link them to their past successes
To demonstrate how to use a weekly, systematic
approach to effect a change in students grades,
attendance and outlook towards school.
To leave you with a tool you can take back to
work and implement immediately
What “Problem Counseling” Sounds
like to students:

When students are
struggling
academically, they
often ignore or tune
out “problem-focused”
teachers, parents and
counselors. Instead this
is what PC’s sound like
to the struggling
student:

(Video Clips: Deleted
from this version so
that the file will be
easier to email)
Theoretical Assumptions
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When we concentrate
on successes,
beneficial changes will
happen
Every problem has
identifiable solutions
and exceptions
Small change can lead
to large change over
time
All people have what
it takes to solve their
problems
If it’s working, keep doing it.
If it’s not working do something
different
Small change leads to large
change over time
Additional Guiding Concepts
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Avoid problem analysis
Be efficient
Be behaviorally specific
Focus on the present and future
Focus on action rather than insight
Theoretical Techniques
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Exceptions
Positive Goals
Scaling
Flagging the Minefield
The Miracle Question
Cheerleading
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Empowering
What Else and Instead
Questions
Rediscovering
Unrecognized Solutions
Keeping the change going
Basic Flow of Solution Focused Counseling

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Identify the problem that brought the student to you
Externalize the problem for the student by giving it
a name
Ask the miracle question or nightmare question
Extract the goals of what the student wants to be
different
Basic Flow of Solution Focused Counseling
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Have the student scale the problem 0 – 10, 10 the
problem is most intense and 0 the problem is gone,
where are they today?
Help the students find exceptions currently and or in
the past
Have the students anticipate possible obstacles to
their success by flagging the minefield
Have the student write up a plan that is as specific as
possible
Initial
Meeting
First
Follow
Up
Maint.
Individual
Solution
Strategies
Third
Follow
Up
Second
Follow
Up
ID
Problem
• Students initial
description
Scaling
Miracle
Question
• 0= problem
free
• 10= problem
has total control
• What if there
was no problem?
• Begin solution
development
What’s
different
or better?
• How did you keep
it from getting
worse?
• How did you do
that?
Exceptions
Who
Noticed
• ID Successful
strategies from
initial meeting
• What worked, even
a little?
• ID Important
relationships
• What would that
do for you?
• What did they
notice you doing
differently?
What are
you doing
differently to
make things
better?
• What are you
doing instead?
• What does that
look like?
Who
Noticed?
Create
Initial
Action
Plan
• ID Important
relationships
• ID what those
people noticed,
exactly
• How can what
someone noticed
become a plan?
• What might get in
the way of that
plan?
• Have you overcome
this in the past?
What’s
different
or better?
• How did you keep
it from getting
worse?
• How did you do
that?
Revise
and
refine
Plan
Who
Noticed
• How can you make
your plan work
even better?
• How many days
will you try this
plan?
• Have you told
anyone about your
plan?
• How did they
react?
What have
you done
to do
better?
• List four things
you’ve done to do
better
• How did you do
that?
Identify
Potential
Roadblocks
Modify
Plan to
overcome
roadblocks
• What might keep
you from doing
better?
• What gets in the
way of continuing
your plan?
• What could you do
to overcome
roadblocks?
• Who could help?
ISS in Action

Small group activity
 Partner
up with someone near you
 Review the ISS packet
 Review the ISS meeting instructions
 Take turns role playing
 Run
through the ISS once from an academic problem frame
 Run through the ISS once from an attendance problem frame
Questions/Quick Review
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Individual Solution Strategies has been developed
over the past two years, and has been utilized in
high school and higher education settings
Promising results indicate increases in academic
achievement and attendance
Implementing the ISS in your school site allows you
to easily document significant positive results, in a
short time
Contact Information
Keith Fulthorp

CSU Long Beach
Department of
Recreation & Leisure
Studies
 1250
Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA
90840
 kfulthor@csulb.edu
 562-985-8728
Arond Schonberg

Redondo Union High
School
 631
Vincent Park
Redondo Beach, CA
90277
 aschonberg@rbusd.org
 310-798-8665