Working succesfully with adolescents 10 solution focused ideas

BRIEF
Working successfully
with
Adolescents:
10 Solution Focused ideas from BRIEF
BRIEF www.brief.org.uk info@brief.org.uk

BRIEF
Best hopes
 Assume that our clients have a good reason for
being with us.
 It is our job to find out what that good reason
might be.
 And remember very often the adolescent’s
reason is not the same as the referrer’s reason.

BRIEF
Good reason
 Assume that our client has good reasons for
his or her life choices.
 Check out when puzzled: ‘I guess you had a
good reason for doing things that way?’
 Sometimes our clients will say ‘no actually’.
 This works better than when we tell our
clients that their choices are poor.

Respecting the client’s frame BRIEF
 As far as possible how can we work within our
client’s frame staying centred on what they want
rather than insisting on our own preferences.
 For example working with a young person who
wants to ‘get the adult world off my back’ can
often be easier, and indeed lead to the same
outcome, as trying to persuade him or her that a
behaviour change is required.
 Let’s make the work easier for them . . . and for
us!

BRIEF
Everything is cooperation -
well almost!
 Stress that our clients do not have to answer
any questions that she or he would prefer not
to answer.
 That way even silence can be viewed as
cooperating with the work.
 Trying to get young people to talk makes it
too easy for them to ‘defeat’ us.
 All they have to do is to stay silent.

BRIEF
How can we know – for sure?
 A young person yawning may just be tired.
 Looking out of the window does not
necessarily imply boredom.
 A lack of eye-contact can mean all sorts of
things
 Let’s try to resist assuming the worst.

Keep those feet moving BRIEF
 However our client responds just try to keep
the conversation going.
 Nothing that happens in the session is
predictive of whether our client will change.
 The only way that we can ever know whether
a conversation has been useful is when the
client returns.
 Just keep going – unless its better to stop!

BRIEF
Compliments
 Adolescents are by and large like the rest of
us!
 We all like to be complimented as long as the
compliments are genuine, fit with the
adolescent’s preferred view of self and have
‘no strings attached’.
 Best to ask questions and use the answers as
the basis for compliments – then the
compliment comes from them and will likely
be accepted back.

BRIEF
Don’t know
 We should try not to be put off by ‘don’t know’.
 It may be that the young person needs time to
think, or the question is not clear, or the
adolescent has not been asked that question
before, or the question is just difficult or
embarrassing.
 Or of course we can ask if a different question
would be preferable.
 Or do they have a good question that we might
ask? Or . . .

Right for you BRIEF
 If the adolescent is struggling to respond to
the ‘best hopes’ question we can stress how
important an answer is to help us to avoid
‘wasting your time’. Only an answer to the
‘best hopes’ question can help us to really try
to ‘get this right for you’.

Sometimes an hour’s too long BRIEF
 Let’s just remember that for most
adolescents an hour sat down talking with an
adult is not much fun.
 30 minutes or even less might work better.
 We can even ask ‘how long can you stand
talking with me for?’

BRIEF
Contact details
Find out more about Solution Focus on our
website www.brief.org.uk
For more information about the approach,
training, therapy and coaching contact us
at:
BRIEF
info@brief.org.uk
www.brief.org.uk

Working succesfully with adolescents 10 solution focused ideas

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