This was released as Episode 85 of Counselor Toolbox Podcast. You can find specific episodes and CEU courses based on the podcasts at https://allceus.com/counselortoolbox You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast app like Apple Podcasts, Google Play or Castbox.

1. Moving from Supportive
to Solution Focused
Interventions
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Director: AllCEUs Counseling Education
Host: Counselor Toolbox Podcast
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2. Objectives
 Differentiate between supportive and solution-
focused interventions
 Identify the function of each
 Explore interventions to facilitate transition into
problem solving
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3. What’s the Difference
 Supportive interventions are grounded in empathy
and helping the person survive the moment.
 Plugging a hole in the hull of a ship until you can get to
port
 Solution focused interventions aim to help the
person move from surviving the moment to
thriving.
 Repairing the ship and figuring out how to avoid the
reef the next time
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4. Supportive Interventions
 Establish rapport
 Validate the person’s feelings
 Can help the person return to baseline/wise mind
 Examples:
 Active listening
 Radical acceptance
 Distress tolerance
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5. Why People Get Stuck
 Supportive interventions are like removing boiling rice from a
hot stove.
 When the rice starts to boil, it often boils over
 The cook removes the rice from the heat and the bubbles go down.
 The rice still needs to cook (the problem is still there) but the
immediate crisis (boiling over) is past
 The cook returns the rice to the stove to try and get it to finish
cooking.
 People generally present for counseling when they are in crisis.
Supportive interventions help them feel better so they drop out
until they are in crisis again.
 Point out this pattern to clients who seem to be repeating the
same pattern
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5

6. Solution Focused Interventions
 Help people identify
 The problem
 Their hoped-for resolution of the problem
 Ways they have solved similar problems
 Exceptions
 Other possible solutions
 Require a clear head and the ability to concentrate (a
little)
 Require that the person feels heard and understood
 Require motivation to make a change
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7. Question
 What other reasons might a person have for not
wanting to engage in solution focused
interventions?
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8. Decisional Balance (Increase Motivation)
Keep Treading Water Find a Permanent Solution
Benefits Gets her out of class
Teachers go easier on her
Doesn’t add to conflict at home
Feel better
Drawbacks Tired of being depressed all the
time
Afraid there might not be one
Change is scary
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Sally repeatedly sees her counselor because she is depressed and there is a
lot of chaos at her house.
Jane repeatedly sees her counselor because the popular girls are trolling her
in IG
John has taken way too many AP classes and is completely stressed out. It is
finals month and he is not sleeping.
Increase
motivation by
helping people
see how their
reaction to the
current situation
is keeping them
from having the
life they want.

9. Maintain Motivation
 Use assignments to keep people on task between sessions
 Have daily check-ins to complete the problem log
 Use scaffolding to develop a game plan
 Provide reinforcement for successful completion of tasks
 Highlight improvements
 Try to avoid rewarding backsliding
 Consider all factors that may enhance or impede motivation
 Emotional
 Mental
 Physical (sleep, nutrition, pain, hormones)
 Social (friends and family)
 Occupational (school/work)
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9

10. Remember
 Everything people do serves a purpose and is
generally more rewarding than the alternative.
 Why does Sally seem to shut down or yes-but any
suggestions?
 Why does John insist on taking an excessive load even
though he knows it will stress him out?
 Why does Jane continue to use social media if it upsets
her so much?
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11. Cognitive Processing Cont…
 Can help therapists identify and address
 Cognitive distortions
 Emotional reasoning
 Faulty goal setting and problem solving skills
 Can help clients
 Gain a different perspective
 Identify what parts are within their control
 Set SMART goals and increase efficacy
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12. Cognitive Processing
 Tell me the problem (or write it down)
 What are the known facts for and against your beliefs about the
problem?
 What other factors and people are involved?
 Are you assuming things about other people or the future?
 Are you confusing high and low probability events?
 Which parts can you control? Which part’s can’t you control?
 What is your hoped for resolution?
 Is this realistic? Why or why not?
 What are possible steps to a solution?
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13. Problem Solving
 Use authenticity to communicate how much you want to help
the person find a way to stop hurting.
 Look for exceptions
 Identify ways the person or someone else has solved the
problem in the past
 Set small, achievable goals
 Follow up regularly.
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14. Narrative Therapy
 Have people write down
 What is going on (this chapter)
 How they see the future (the next chapter)
 Include
Who is there?
What do they do?
How do they feel?
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15. Living in the AND
 Validate people’s hurts and perspectives.
 You are devastated and it seems like the pain will
never end.
 Help them identify things that are important to
them that are going well
 Tree
 Collage
 Scrapbook
 Index cards: Who or what it is and why it is important
and going well.
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16. Summary
 Supportive interventions are necessary to help
people radically accept their feelings and
situation and get into their wise mind.
 Solution-focused interventions will help them
address the situation and start moving forward to
break the distress cycle.
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