Milley et al contend that “during the intervention phase, practitioners draw on the plan that
workers and clients have previously framed” p. 301. Looking back at our plan from the last
session, we summarized Nadia’s goals which were getting financial assistance, childcare,
recreation, educational upgrading, connecting more with the Women’s group, and advocating for
work equity. Then we asked Nadia if she would like to add more goals and she responded “No”.
According to Milley et al, “even in desperate circumstances, people likely demonstrate strengths
in how they cope with their challenges” p.309. Our strength-oriented assessment revealed Nadia
to be “multi-talented” She is hardworking, educated, motivated, optimistic, loving, and caring to
her children, and determined to get a better education and a good job. Nadia also has a network
of support, competent relationships, accessible social service options. We agreed with Nadia to
continue using the support from the Imam, the Muslin women group, her neighbor, and social
assistance. This is because Nadia mentioned that these have helped her cope in the past and have
helped to increase her sense of belonging, self-esteem, sense of power, motivation, and
optimism. Dorlee (n.d.) maintains that solution-focused practitioners notice what is working and
maintain it. With Nadia’s permission to continue, we moved forward in the process of activating
more resources.
According to Social Work Career. Dorlee (n.d.) “in a solution-focused therapy, all work is
centered around the client’s goals. Every session begins with a goal-oriented question”. We
asked Nadia what she hopes is different as a result of the time we will spend together. Nadia
mentioned that her best hope is to figure out a way to find a better job. Then we moved ahead to
elicit details about this goal by asking Nadia what is the first thing that will tell her that she is
making progress towards finding a job. Nadia responded that she would be preparing resumes
and looking up companies that need people with her skill sets. We asked if she would be
interested in some job sites and she agreed, so we provided her with linked-in, indeed, and other
sites. Nadia’s homework was to send in her applications for positions advertised on these sites
and let us know how it went, and if she needs more support in that area. We moved ahead, used a
scaling question to find out where Nadia was on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is that she is very
hopeful and confident about finding a job and 1 is the opposite. She said after our discussion she
was at about 4. Dorlee. (n.d.) suggests that scaling is a useful technique to help clients move
toward their goals and to help practitioners learn about the current hopefulness and what needs to
change to be a bit more hopeful.
Nadia also expressed that she would like to get admission into Nursing school and study toward
becoming a nurse in Canada. We asked her what she thinks she needs to become a nurse in
Canada, Nadia said she would look up nursing schools online, and find out their admission
requirements, tuition and how to get student loans and grants. We provided Nadia with phone
numbers of the …….?????? Nadia agreed to contact the schools, find out about the admission
requirements, and let us know if she needs more support. Milley et al. “Workers simply inform
clients about resources or take more direct actions; they consistently work for clients to
understand the process by which clients might access the same resources without professional
assistance” p. 318. Letting the client do most of the work when they can. This would improve
clients’ self-esteem, encourage empowerment and self-determination over their life.
What actions she would take to improve on her financial issues. Nadia said she would like to
have more hours at work, teach ESL to students online, and try to make some snacks to sell to
people in her community. She believes that she could make some more money from these
activities. Nadia reveals other personal resources that were hidden. We complimented her for
being creative and Nadia agreed to try these out and let us know during her next visit. When
workers accentuate client strengths, they enhance a client’s sense of power Milley et al. p.309.
Social Work Career. Dorlee (n.d.) Solution Focused Therapy: Key Principles and Case Example.
https://www.socialwork.career/2017/02/12-solution-focused-therapy.html
When Nadia came in, we greeted her and asked how things had been since the last time she left
our office. She responded that she has been thinking about the different goals and objectives we
set last time and trying to decide what she wants to achieve (Canadian Association of Social
Workers Code of Ethics (2015). We reminded her that our role is to suggest resources and then
she will decide which ones she thinks will be most helpful for her. We also reviewed the
confidentiality form with Nadia and reminded her that everything we talk about here would be
confidential and can only be revealed if there is any risk of danger to her health or other people