TAKEN:
Strength-Based
Approaches for
Adolescents in Trouble
Bill O’Hanlon
www.billohanlon.com
DISSED AND PISSED
For a free copy of these PowerPoint slides, visit:
http://www.billohanlon.com
 Click on FREE STUFF, then click on SLIDES
 Wait about a week for the slides to show up;
meanwhile there are others up there you can
have while you are waiting.
All slides except for copyrighted material I do
not own will be there (please support the
artists/media producers by purchasing their
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
A DIFFERENT APPROACH:
Leaving the world of illness,
explanations, pathology and deficits and
entering the world of competence,
strength and positive practice
UNDERLYIN EVOKING OR
G ISSUES DEVELOPING
COMPETENC
E
IDENTIFYIN FINDING AND
SUPPORTING
G AND
STRENGTHS
FIXING
DEFICITS
NEGATIVE
CONSEQUE
NCES
POSITIVE
PRACTICE
FIXED
TRAITS
CHANGING
STORIES
Lessons from a successful child
hunger relief project
Ma learns to read
Milton Erickson helps his son’s
friend do better in school
LESS RESISTANCE
BETTER MORALE
THE SOLUTIONORIENTED APPROACH
IDENTIFY THE CONCERN
AND THE LONGING
Get access to whomever is
concerned and find out what they
are concerned about and what they
would like to have happen instead
FIND OUT WHAT’S BEEN
WORKING AND PREVIOUS
SOLUTIONS AND
STRENGTHS
Investigate any pre-treatment
positive developments and change
and how they might be kept going
or yield insights into how this
problem might be resolved
Discover any exceptions to the
problem and any
insights/resources/skills they might
indicate that could help solve this
problem
Previous solutions to this problem
or any difficult situation
Discover any area of competence
and how it might apply to this
problem situation
Investigate any social supports and
positive role models available to the
person/couple/family
What advice would the child or the
family give to someone else who
was dealing with this issues or
problem?
FUTURE PULL
Investigate any hopes, dreams or
longings the person, couple or
family may have about a better
future
I want to be a princess.
I’ll be dead by the time
I’m 18.
Ask the person about life after the
problem or successful treatment
Metaphorical frames to help
people access a better future
•The crystal
ball
•The rainbow
bridge
•The time
machine
•Magic wand
•The miracle
Suggest that the person write a
letter to themselves from a better
Reflect and shift by turning
problems into preferences in your
reflections and empathizing
statements
KIDS’ SKILLS
CONSISTENT WITH LATEST
BRAIN PLASTICITY SCIENCE
“Neurons that fire together, wire
together.”
Mastering competence takes
deliberate practice
KIDS’ SKILLS
SETTING THE SKILL
Brainstorm with parents, teachers,
the child and anyone else together
to determine the skill to be learned
and mastered
Negotiate an agreement with the
child and anyone else to commit to
learn/master the skill
Explore the benefits of
learning/mastering the skill
Give the skill a name
BUILDING SUPPORT
Help the child identify an animal,
creature or hero to be his supporter
and source of strength while
learning the skill
Help the child find and commit to
enrolling a number of people he/she
know to be his supporter and
source of strength while learning
the skill
Enlist/invite people who know the
child to communicate to him/her
why they believe he/she can learn
or master the skill
ENVISIONING SUCCESS
Find out what the child and his/her
supporters plan to do to celebrate
once he/she has learned or
mastered the skill
Detail how the child will handle the
previously problematic situation
once he/she has learned or
mastered the skill
PLANNING
Detail how to inform/enlist the
important real-life supporters for the
skill learning task
Detail the child’s preference for how
others’ can support him/her in
staying on track in
learning/mastering the skill and
remind him/her if he/she gets off
track or forgets
IMPLEMENTATION/CONSO
LIDATION/EXTENSION
After the child masters the task,
hold the celebration that was
planned
Offer the child an opportunity to
pass on the skill to another/other
children
Offer the child an opportunity to
learn/master another skill
PRACTICE ACADEMIES
PRACTICE ACADEMIES
ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR
CHALLENGING
CHILDREN/TEENS
DETERMINE THE
DESIRED BEHAVIOR
Brainstorm with parents, teachers,
the child and anyone else together
to determine the problematic
behavior and the new behavior to
be learned and mastered
START THE PRACTICE
ACADEMY
Set a convenient time for the
parent/teacher or counselor for the
child to practice the desired
behavior
The best time to get his/her attention and
make the learning more effective is during
a time when the child would rather be
doing a favorite activity such as: playing
with friends, watching his favorite
television program, or going to soccer
practice. If you are a teacher, the best
time may be during recess, lunch, or after
school. Determine which time you think
will have the most impact on the child.
Let the child know, without anger
and perhaps with a little
sadness/empathy that his/her
behavior lets you know that he/she
needs some help
learning/mastering some behavior
For example: (said with sadness or
unemotionally) “Uh oh! Your
behavior is telling me that you need
a ‘Cleaning your room’ Practice
Academy."
Keep the practice going until the
child has mastered it and is bored
Restart the practice if the
misbeavior re-occurs
NARRATIVE THERAPY
EXTERNALIZE THE
PROBLEM
PRINCIPLE: The child is never the
problem; the problem is the problem
The child has become identified
with and as the problem
This method separates and
externalizes the problem to give
soem distance and leverage
Thereby it helps create a new story,
a new identity story and a new story
about the problem
NAME THE PROBLEM
BEGIN TO USE THE
LANGUAGE OF
EXTERNALIZATION IN
REGARD TO THE
PROBLEM
For example, “When does
depression show up in your life?”
or
“When anorexia tells you that you
are fat, do you always listen and
believe it?”
INVESTIGATE HOW THE
PROBLEM HAS BEEN
DOMINATING OR
UNDERMINING THE CHILD
AND THE FAMILY
DISCOVER EXCEPTIONS
TO THAT DOMINATION
AND UNDERMINING
NAME THE STRENGTHS,
ABILITIES OR GOOD
QUALITIES THOSE
EXCEPTIONS INDICATE
FROM THOSE GOOD
QUALITIES, START TO
BUILD, SPREAD SOCIALLY
AND EXTEND (INTO THE
PASTAND THE FUTURE)
THE NEW, MORE
STRENGTH-BASED
IDENTITY STORY
Use awards, letters, social sharing
in and out of treatment to spread
stories about competence, success
and the admirable qualities to
others
Elicit from the person and his or her
intimates or social systems what is likely
to happen as the person continues to
use the admirable quality to escape from
or defeat the problem
THANK YOU
REMEMBER:
You can get a free copy of
these slides:
Billohanlon.com
Click FREE STUFF, then
SLIDES
You may share these with
others, as long as you don’t
Permission to use
This PowerPoint presentation was
created by Bill O’Hanlon ©2011. You
have my permission to use it for
non-commercial purposes (like
sharing it with your colleagues or
studying it yourself). If you want to
use it in any commercial (moneymaking) activities, please contact me
for permission and discussion.
Bill O’Hanlon’s info
Websites:
www.BillOhanlon.com
www.PublishingaBook.com
www.PaidPublicSpeaker.com
www.PossiBillSentMe.com
Email:
Bill@billohanlon.com
Contact information
Bill O’Hanlon, M.S., LMFT
Possibilities
223 N. Guadalupe #278
Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA
Bill@billOHanlon.com
www.BillOHanlon.com