Strengths-Based Problem-Solving
Interviews
Chapter 4
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the empowerment perspective
2. Understand the strengths perspective
3. Understand the risk and resilience perspective
4. Begin to understand the role of multiculturalism,
social pluralism, and socio-demographic issues
that may hinder or help the interviewing process
5. Understand specific techniques of interviewing
6. Begin to understand communication patterns to
avoid
The Professional Interview
 Exchange of information between
social worker and client system which
enables:
 Tracking of client system’s needs and
wants
 Identification of preferred goals and
objectives
 Implementation of a plan to solve
problems and address issues and
needs.
The Professional Interview
 The social workers is guided by the:
 Empowerment perspective
 Strengths perspective
 Risk and resilience perspective
 These establish the attitudinal and belief
framework for working with individuals,
families, groups, organizations, and
communities as client, action, and target
systems in micro, mezzo, and macro
practice.
Elements of Strengths-Based Problem-Solving Interview
with Micro, Mezzo and Macro Clients
Empowerment
Perspectives
Strengths
Risk and
Resilience
Think of Johnny…
The Interview Process
 The social work interview is a set of
communications with four special
characteristics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
has a context or setting;
is purposeful and directed;
is limited and contractual; and
involves specialized role relationships.
(Compton & Galaway, 1994, p. 310)
Social Work…
Helps people help themselves…
EMPOWERMENT PERSPECTIVE
Rescuer
(Social Worker)
Oppressor
Victim
Self
Empowered
person
Facilitator
(Social Worker)
Oppressor
Social Work & Empowerment (Adams 2003)
Historical Roots
• Dual focus on persons
in transaction with their
environments
• The founders of social
work set the course for
commitment to social
change in the interest of
social justice and the
enhancement of wellbeing
Jane Addams
(1860-1935)
“Nothing could be worse than the fear that
one had given up too soon, and left one
unexpended effort that might have saved
the world."
~Jane Addams
Hull House 1889
Improving social conditions for underserved peoples
Mary E. Richmond (1861-1928)
• Charity Organization
Society
• Social diagnosis,
social casework,
group work,
therapeutic
relationship
Bertha C. Reynolds (1885-1978)
• Offered alternatives to the
psychopathologizing of
"everything" in favor of
systemic, structural,
institutional and
organizational perspectives
and our behavior within and
in response to them.
Empowerment
 A process of
increasing personal,
interpersonal, or
political power so that
individuals, families,
and communities can
take action to improve
their situations.
Consists of recognizing
and identifying the
processes of
oppression, facilitating
client system learning,
and promoting client
system actions to
obtain needed assets.”
(Gutierrez, 1994)
Domains of empowerment
Community
Organisation
Group
Interpersonal
Self
Therapist as Technical Expert
Disempowering
Therapist as Reflector
Empowering
The Empowerment Process
The empowerment process
consists of helping client systems
To:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Develop critical thinking skills
Reduce self-blame
Assume responsibility
Enhance self-efficacy
Selflove
Not
blame
Empowerment Tasks
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bolster motivation
Offer psychological comfort
Enhance problem-solving
Promote self-direction
Empowerment: Case Study
• Stepping Stones provided shelter services to a mother
and her 3 children. In the beginning, the mother was very
hesitant to receive counseling services and found it
difficult for her to share her feelings and deal with her
issues.
• The client was reluctant to attend individual counseling
and support groups, but consistently attended her
scheduled Advocacy appointments and was persistent in
accomplishing her goals.
• As the client worked on her goals in Advocacy, she had
identified a need to receive counseling services.
• The client had begun attending individual counseling and
consistently attends the Family Focus and the Women’s
Empowerment Group.
• They were able to exit the shelter and move into
affordable housing there. At this time, the client continues
to attend individual counseling appointments, and is
accessing non-residential Advocacy services and
considering family counseling with her mother.
The Strengths Perspective
The strengths perspective is a distinctive
lens wherein …“everything you do as a
social worker will be predicated, in some say,
on helping to discover and relish, explore
and exploit clients’ strengths and resources
in the service of assisting them to achieve
their goals, realize their dreams, and shed
the irons of their own inhibitions and
misgivings.”
(Saleeby, 1997)
Strengths Principles




Every system has strengths
Difficulties = chance for growth and change
Every system has aspirations for change
Systems have expertise in:
 Understanding, coping with, and responding to
their problems, needs, and issues of concern
 Every system has strengths, resources, and
assets to bring to bear on the current
difficulty
Strengths-Based Interview Questions
 Strengths-base interview questions
help the client system
 Focus on the future
 Embrace the possibilities inherent in a
situation
 Shift the frame of reference from
limitations and a deficit model to a
strengths-based perspective
The Miracle Question

Ask the client system to imagine that
the problem has been miraculously
solved overnight and to describe all the
signs one would see that indicate the
miracle has occurred.

Helps clients envision solutions to their
issues and needs.

Vision of the future engenders hope
and helps lead the client system to fill
in the picture of how to get there.
From a Social Worker…
• One of the most powerful tools that I use is the
Miracle Question. This engages the individuals’
imagination in changing the present and
planning for a more desirable future. The
language is solution focused.
• The Miracle Question is used to help clients
generate descriptions of their dreams and
visions for the future. They dare to dream about
a better life, to remember hopes and
aspirations they once had. The question
generates a feeling of hope that things can
improve. Here is a simple version of the
question:
…The Miracle Question Itself
• ‘I am going to ask you a rather strange question. After
we finish talking today I will go away back to my office
and you will get on with the things that you need to do
today. I want you to imagine that later on, tonight, when
it is quiet, and everybody has gone to bed, and you are
fast asleep, a miracle happens. And the miracle is this:
all the things that have brought you here today, the
things that are causing you difficulties, that you have or
that other people think you have, all these problems
have gone. A miracle has happened and the problems
have all disappeared. But because this has happened
when you are asleep, you don’t know it has happened,
nobody knows the difficulties are solved. So when you
are slowly waking up, what difference will you notice that
will make you wonder that things have changed?’
• This question allows the individual to use their
imagination to create a better life and then work
backwards to the present day to think about
what needs to be done differently.
• Your role having asked the question is to listen
and to prompt for more detail, what colour, what
taste, what is your room like, how are you
behaving, etc.
• Sometimes people will drift off onto negative
things for instance complaining about others
behaviour. When this happens your role is to
gently bring them back onto talk of what is
good, what is better, what lets you know that
things have improved and a miracle has
happened.
The Exception Question
 Ask the client system if there are times
when the problem is not present or is
less severe.
 This allows the client system to guide
the generalist practitioner to relevant
areas where satisfaction and success
are envisioned.
 The vision of the future tells the
generalist about strengths, resources,
and abilities.
The Difference Question
 Ask the client system what
difference it made by taking
this different action.
 This helps the client system
realize they have the ability to
do something different than
what was tried in the past.
 The identified difference
reinforces the intention of
changing, reaching a goal, and
taking purposeful action.
Miracle…Exception…Difference
AND
Resilience
What Gives You Strength?
• Write down one thing you have
accomplished that you never thought
you could do.
• With this accomplishment in mind,
discuss with a partner:
– What barriers you encountered
– What gave you strength to meet this
goal
Considering Your Story
•
•
•
•
Were you resilient?
Were you vulnerable?
We are all both vulnerable and resilient.
There is no such thing as a vulnerable person,
client, population…
• But you wouldn’t know it from the professional
literature about the people we serve…
• There is no such thing as a resilient person.
• Resilience is not
– An intrinsic quality of lucky people
The Power of Words
• 2 Minutes:
– Tell a story of yourself as a
victim.
– 3 words describing how you feel
• 2 Minutes:
– Tell a story of yourself as a. survivor.
– 3 words describing how you feel
What is Resilience?
• History of resilience research
• Resiliency is positive adaptation in
response to adversity.
• Most people who experience adversity
have positive outcomes.
• Why?
Who is Resilient?
We all are!
Who is Vulnerable?
We all are!
Risk and Resilience Perspective
Risk and Resilience is a general framework of
experience and beliefs that allows client
systems to define a problematical situation …..
“as an opportunity to act with understanding,
confidence, and persistence in overcoming or
rebounding from the consequences of
associated adversities through environmental
mastery and individual adaptation.”
(Richman & Bowen, 1997, p. 101)
Risk and Resilience Perspective
The
fundamental
principle of risk
and resilience
generalist in
practice is to
increase
exposure to
protective
factors and
decrease
exposure to risk
factors.
Risk and Resilience Perspective
The Risk and Resilience Perspective
must include assessment and
intervention efforts associated with micro,
mezzo, and macro client systems.
Micro
Macro
Mezzo
Risk and Resilience Perspective
Risk factors are defined as “…any
influence that increases the probability of
onset, digression to a more serous state,
or maintenance of a problem condition.”
(Richman & Bowen, 1997, p. 101)
Risk and Resilience Perspective
Resilience is a term that describes client
systems who have achieved positive
outcomes in the face of risk.
(Kirby & Fraser, 1997)
Risk and Resilience Perspective
Three types of Resilience are
1. Overcoming the odds or attaining a
positive outcome despite high-risk
situations
2. Competence under stress or retaining or
restoring equilibrium in the face of
interpersonal or environmental stress
3. Recovery from trauma or adapting in the
face of great adversity.
Risk and Resilience Perspective
 Protective Factors are the internal
and external forces that help micro,
mezzo, and macro systems resist
or ameliorate risk factors.
Preventing Drug Abuse
among Children and
Adolescents
What are risk factors and
protective factors
Preventing Drug Abuse among Children and Adolescents
Risk Factors and Protective Factors
The General Method Interview
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 The General Method Interview
is the main data collection
instrument for the social work
profession.
The General Method Interview
 Ethnographic Interviewing
 The General Method Interview includes data
related to understanding the role of
 Multiculturalism,
 Social pluralism, and
 Socio-demographic
 All issues that may hinder or help the
assessment and intervention process.
The General Method Interview Techniques
 Listening
 Open-ended questions
 Closed-ended questions
 Clarification Questions
 Paraphrasing
 Furthering
What is Listening?
• Listening (ILA, 1996): the process of
receiving, constructing meaning from,
and responding to spoken and/or
nonverbal messages; to hear something
with thoughtful attention
• Effective communication is 2-way
– depends on speaking and listening
Listening vs. Hearing
• Hearing- physical process; natural;
passive
• Listening- physical & mental process;
active; learned process; a skill
• Listening is hard!
You must choose to participate
in the process of listening.
Fast Facts
• We listen at 125-250 wpm, think at 10003000 wpm
• 75% of the time we are distracted,
preoccupied or forgetful
• 20% of the time, we remember what we
hear
• More than 35% of businesses think
listening is a top skill for success
• Less than 2% of people have had formal
education with listening
Percentage of Communication
Mode of
Communication
Formal Years
of Training
Percentage of
Time Used
Writing
12 years
9%
Reading
6-8 years
16 %
Speaking
1-2 years
30%
Listening
0-few hours
45%
Barriers to Listening
• Equate With
Hearing
• Uninteresting Topics
• Speaker’s Delivery
• External
Distractions
• Mentally Preparing
Response
•
•
•
•
Listening for Facts
Personal Concerns
Personal Bias
Language/Culture
Differences
• Faking Attention
Bad Listening Habits
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Criticizing the subject or the speaker
Getting over-stimulated
Listening only for facts
Not taking notes OR outlining everything
Tolerating or creating distraction
Letting emotional words block message
Wasting time difference between speed of
speech and speed of thought
Active Listening
• … Allows you to make sure you hear
the words and understand the meaning
behind the words
• Goal: go beyond listening to
understanding
Active Listening Requires…
•
•
•
•
Definite Intent to Listen
Focus on the Speaker
Verbal and Non-Verbal Encouragers
Feedback Loop to Insure Accuracy
Active Listening (4 Steps)
1. Listen
2. Question
3. ReflectParaphrase
4. Agree
Step 1: Listen
• To Feelings As Well As Words
– Words – Emotions -- Implications
• Focus on Speaker
– Don’t plan, speak, or get distracted
• What Is Speaker Talking About?
– Topic? Speaker? Listener? Others?
• Look At Speaker
• Use Verbal & Non-Verbal Encouragers
Step 2: Question
• 3 Purposes
– Demonstrates you are listening
– Gather information
– Clarification
• Open-ended
– Tell me more?
– How did you feel?
– Then what happened?
Step 3: Reflect-Paraphrase
• Reflect What Is Said (In your words)
• Reflect Feelings
• Reframe
– Capture the essence of the communication
– Remove negative framing
– Move toward problem solving
Step 4: Agree
• Get Speaker’s Consent to Your
Reframing
• Speaker Has Been Heard and Knows It!
• Solution Is Near!
Identify each of the following as
either Open or Closed Ended
Questions?
1. Did you have a good relationship
with your parents?
2. Tell me about your relationship
with your parents.
Questions
• Open-ended
• Closed-ended
The General Method Interview Techniques
 Reflection of Feelings
 Summarization
 Information Giving
 Confrontation
 Interpretation
 Silence
• UP TO HERE FOR
• TUES. OCT. 9TH, 2
The General Method Interview
 Pitfalls to Avoid






Advice giving
Inappropriate use of humor
Interrupting the client system
Abrupt transitions
Inappropriate and irrelevant questions
Judgmental responses
The General Method Interview
 Pitfalls to Avoid Continued
 Offering false assurance
 Inappropriate social worker selfdisclosure
 Premature confrontation
 Overwhelming the client with information
 Premature problem-solving.