Chapter 2 review the problem management and opportunity-developme

1. Chapter 2
REVIEW THE PROBLEM-MANAGEMENT AND
OPPORTUNITY-DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
In Chapter 1, you were asked to explain the overall goals of
counseling to another person. Chapter 2 provides a framework,
the problem-management process, for understanding the helping
process in more detail. The standard problem-management and
opportunity-development process is at the heart of just about
every approach to helping. Therefore, it is one of the key
ingredients of successful therapy. Read the section on problem
management in Chapter 1 and all of Chapter 2 before doing the
exercise below.
EXERCISE 2.1: FIND OUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK
COUNSELING IS
a. Interview three or four friends, relatives, or colleagues. Ask
them what they think counseling is.
b. Get more than just a definition. Help them expand on
whatever definition or description they provide.
c. Write a summary of the main facets in their definitions and
descriptions.
d. Meet with two or three of your fellow learners and share what
you’ve discovered.
e. What definition/description of counseling description
emerges from your discussion? What are the themes? What are
the variations?
f. After studying Chapter 2, discuss with the same group how
the “public” sees counseling: what counseling is, what the
helper’s role and responsibilities are, and what the client’s role
and responsibilities are.
EXERCISE 2.2: EXPLAIN WHAT HELPING IS ALL ABOUT
TO A STRANGER
Your ability to explain what counseling is to others is a sign of
how well you understand it yourself.
a. Picture yourself (as a helper) talking to a stranger you meet

2. on a bus, train, or plane. When the stranger discovers that you
are studying to be a counselor, she (or he) asks you to explain
what counseling is all about. On a separate piece of paper, write
down the topics you would include in your response to the
stranger.
b. Next, describe what counseling is all about to a friend,
relative, or acquaintance. Include a brief description of what
helping is, what its goals are, and some of its key elements.
Don’t be too technical. Use language they will understand.
EXERCISE 2.3: DESCRIBE WHAT COUNSELING IS TO A
PROSPECTIVE CLIENT
It is essential to tell clients what counseling is (and what it is
not). Unlike in Exercise 2.2, you need to tailor your description
to the needs of your clients.
a. After reading and rereading Chapters 1 and 2 of the text,
prepare what you would say to a client in the first meeting.
Let’s say that the client comes with a vague dissatisfaction with
her life. She’s married, but marriage has not turned to be the
partnership she had expected. She and her husband both want
children but they do not have any yet. She is working, but the
job is “not that interesting.” However, it does help greatly “to
pay the bills.” There are no great problems, but there mi ght be
unused opportunities. Let’s say that you have spent most of the
hour listening to her story. You have responded with
understanding and you have probed to make sure you know the
full story. She does not seem to be hiding anything. In the latter
part of the session, you think it’s important to describe to her
your approach to helping.
b. Write out what you would say. You don’t want it to be too
long or too short. You don’t want to give a lecture. You do want
to present it in such a way as to promote some sort of dialogue
between you and the client.
c. Get a partner and deliver your description without using
notes. Do so, whenever possible, in a way that might elicit a
dialogue. For instance, tell the client that he or she can ask
question and get clarification anytime during your presentation.

3. d. Afterward, get feedback from your partner.
EXERCISE 2.4: EMBED THE PROBLEM-MANAGEMENT
AND OPPORTUNITY-DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN YOUR
OWN LIFE
Whether you become a professional helper or not, learning the
model, methods, and skills of The Skilled Helper can help you
become more effective in your interactions with both yourself
and others in all the social settings of life including family,
friendship groups, and work settings. If you are a professional
helper, the basics of the problem-management process must be
part of your personal culture. Name some things you could do to
embed this process in your everyday life.
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EXERCISE 2.5: DEAL WITH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
KNOWING A MODEL AND USING IT
Let’s say that you describe the standard problem-management
process to someone you know and the person says, “Oh, I know
that! You’re not telling me anything new.” How might you
respond creatively to that person? Jot down a few ideas.
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EXERCISE 2.6: WHAT KIND OF PROBLEM MANAGER AND
OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPER AM I?—A SELF-ASSESSMENT

4. As a counselor, you are going to be helping clients manage
problem situations and develop unused or underused
opportunities. It would be odd if you were not using these same
skills in managing your own life. Here is an opportunity to use
the problem-management process or framework as a self-
assessment tool. Helpers can and should become better problem
managers throughout their lives. Rate each of following on a
scale of 1-7 (with 7 as a high score). As mentioned before,
when self-rating, push yourself to be honest.
Stage I—Task A Behavior
• I spot problem situations as they begin to develop. 1-7 ____
• I tend to address issues directly and immediately. 1-7 ____
• I act on the “prevention is better than cure” principle. 1-7
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• I’m always on the watch for life-enhancing opportunities. 1-7
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• I analyze problem situations clearly; I quickly grasp what’s
going on. 1-7 ____
• I quickly analyze the potential of any given opportunity. 1-7
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• I apply these behaviors to the rest of problem management —
goal setting, strategy development, and implementation. 1-7
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• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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Stage I—Task B Behavior
• I am open to getting feedback from others. 1-7 ____
• I find ways of getting in touch with my blind spots. 1-7 ____
• I am open to exploring my blind spots with others. 1-7 ____
• I translate blind spots into useful, life-enhancing new
perspectives. 1-7 ____
• I understand that I can have blind spots at any stage or task of
the helping process. 1-7 ____

5. • I am a vigilant person. 1-7 ____
• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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Stage I—Task C Behavior
• I know how to separate the important issues of life from the
trivial. 1-7 ____
• I know the difference between what is critical and what is
merely useful. 1-7 ____
• In both problem management and opportunity development, I
focus on the bigger issues of life. 1-7 ____
• I do not let myself become a victim of the trivial things of
life. 1-7 ____
• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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Stage II—Task A Behavior
• I’m open to problem-managing and opportunity-developing
possibilities. 1-7 ____
• The psychology of hope is important for me. 1-7 ____
• I brainstorm about the future. 1-7 ____
• The concept of “possible selves” is important for me. 1-7 ____
• I look for ways of increasing my creativity. 1-7 ____
Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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Stage II—Task B Behavior
• Goals play an important role in my life. 1-7 ____
• Even though I am goal-driven, I am still flexible. 1-7 ____
• My goals have the kind of focus and clarity needed to drive

6. action. 1-7 ____
• I appreciate all kinds of goals—emerging, adaptive, and
coping. 1-7 ____
• I tailor goals to the kind of problem situation or opportunity at
hand. 1-7 ____
• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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Stage II—Task C Behavior
• I have a practical understanding of the dynamics of incentives,
commitment, and motivation. 1-7 ____
• The goals I set are both useful and appealing. 1-7 ____
• I take my commitments—both to myself and to others—
seriously. 1-7 ____
• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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Stage III Behavior
• I know that there are usually a number of paths to a goal. 1-7
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• I explore these paths diligently. 1-7 ____
• I choose strategies that my style and the circumstances. 1-7
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• Whenever required, I turn the strategies I choose into a step-
by-step plan. 1-7 ____
• My plans are living realities, not just words on a page. 1-7
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• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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7. Implementation Behavior
• I am a doer, not just a dreamer. 1-7 ____
• As soon as I start to think about a problem situation or an
opportunity, I begin engaging in little actions that get me
moving toward more substantial outcomes. 1-7 ____
• The stages and tasks outlined above make me think of things I
can do. 1-7 ____
• I am open to changing my cognitive behavior, my external
behavior, and/or the ways I express my emotions. 1-7 ____
• My actions are usually focused, not just actions for the sake of
action. 1-7 ____
• Name one behavior you would like to be better at:
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General Problem-Management Behavior
• The behaviors outlined above constitute a mentality, a way of
approaching life. 1-7 ____
• The framework is in my bones; it is part of my lifestyle. I’m a
doer. 1-7 ____
EXERCISE 2.7: COME TO GRIPS WITH THE TERMS
“STAGE,” “TASK,” AND “FLEXIBILITY”
These three terms are very important, but they are often
misunderstood. The problem-management process has three
stages and each stage has three tasks. The Action Arrow, as we
shall see in Chapter 8, runs through all stages and tasks.
a. Define stage.
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b. Define task.
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c. Define what flexibility means with respect to stage and task.
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d. What problem comes up with respect to these terms?
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e. How can this problem be solved or managed?
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f. Why is this so important?
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EXERCISE 2.8: FLEXIBILITY OF THE PROBLEM-
MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK IN ACTION
As noted in Chapter 2 of the text, the problem-management

9. framework is intended to be flexible. This flexibility is an
acknowledgement that making progress on a problem can unfold
in a variety of ways, depending on the values and preferences of
the client. If you have a solid understanding of the terms
“stage” and “task,” it will become clear how flexibly you can
use them.
a. What is meant by the “sequential logic” of the stages and
tasks of the problem-management process?
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b. How does the “clinical use” of the stages and tasks of the
problem-management process take precedence over its
“sequential logic”?
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c. Explain this statement: Clients can begin their stories
anywhere they want in the “geography” of helping.
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d. Explain this statement: Within therapy, clients can move to
whatever stage or task they think will be helpful.
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e. Explain this statement: Throughout therapy, therapists can
suggest that the client move to a stage or task of the problem-
management process that the therapist believes will help the
client make progress—doing so, however, in collaboration with
the client.

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EXERCISE 2.9: DEAL WITH THE CHALLENGE OF
MULTIPLE APPROACHES TO THERAPY
Someone says to you, “There are literally dozens—some say
hundreds—of approaches to therapy. That means either that it
doesn’t matter which approach you use or all of them are
nonsense. Scientists must laugh at all of this.” How would you
respond? Jot down a few ideas that would be included in your
response.
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EXERCISE 2.6: APPRAISE YOUR ABILITY TO WORK WITH
DIVERSITY
As a helper, you will meet clients who differ from you in many
ways: abilities, accent, age, attractiveness, color, developmental
stage, disabilities, economic status, education, ethnicity, fitness,
gender, group culture, health, national origin, occupation,
personal culture, personality variables, politics, problem type,
religion, sexual orientation, social status, and values—to name
some of the major categories. These differences come with
inherent advantages and disadvantages. Your ability to work
with clients who are different, and sometimes quite different,
from you is one of the major requirements for being an

11. effective helper. On a scale of 1-7 (with 7 a very high score),
rate yourself on the following statements. Try to be as honest as
possible in your self-appraisal. We all have room for growth
when it comes to being aware and positively embracing
diversity. Just look around the world.
• I enjoy meeting and interacting with people who are different
from me.
• I would not like to live (don’t like living) in a homogeneous
culture.
• Even when my initial reactions to people are negative, I try to
understand rather than judge them.
• I fully understand that people (including myself) are not
perfect and I make reasonable allowances for this.
• I probably have blind spots when it comes to the way I treat
people, but I’d like to know what they are so that I can deal
with them.
• I see culture as a two-way street: I want to understand and
respect the cultural differences of others, but I also expect them
to do the same for me.
• I realize that my understanding of other people’s cultures will
always be partial and fallible.
• I want to understand others in the key diversity and cultural
contexts of their lives.
• Because of the richness of human diversity, when I meet and
deal with others I am always a learner.
• I think that it is important for me to understand whatever
diversity and cultural biases (such as racism, anti-Arabism,
anti-Semitism, and the like) I have and to deal with them.
• Although I realize that differences can be a cause of conflict, I
believe that differences can also be a source of human
enrichment.
Consider your high scores and your low scores. Share key
insights about yourself with a friend or learning partner.
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