Counselling Wagga Wagga

Wagga Wagga Counselling, make a change for a solution today

Wagga Wagga Counselling service is not a crisis service, we focus on relationships, family conflict, work stress, grief and loss, relationship conflicts, anxiety and depression to name a few. However, if you need a crisis service please contact Life line on 13 11 14. We have appointments available weekdays and evenings for greater client flexiability. The cost is $150 per session. Medicare rebates are possible, conditions apply. Why wait in misery? Contact today and make a change for a solution today! Contact Stephanie Johnson for an appointment or for more information see contact page on this website. We focus on solutions not problems.

Wagga Wagga Counselling

Counselling Wagga Wagga is not a crisis service. If you require a crisis service please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Why not see if Wagga Wagga Solution Focused Counselling & Associates can do for you and your relationships

Are you struggling at work? Disappointed in your relationship? Unhappy and depressed? Make an appointment today, Why wait?

What is Solution Focused Counselling?

Solution focused counselling focuses on solutions rather than the problems themselves. As such it highlights people’s strengths and competences instead of their perceived deficits, weaknesses and limitations.

This shift in paradigm is dramatically different from previous counselling techniques that concentrated on identifying problems and trying to explain their origins. Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg were the founders of solution focused therapy in the 1980′s both were based in USA. Sadly both have pass away recently.

There are several assumptions that provide the framework of solution focused counselling.

All people have strengths and inner resources to solve life’s challenges.
“Change is one of life’s constants”. Not only is change possible it is always happening.
The counsellor’s role in the therapy session is to help each client identify the change that is occurring and to help them increase that level of change.
We do not need to know what caused a problem to be able to solve it.
Change begins with small steps
The client is the expert in their life.
The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem
If its not working, do something different

What are the benefits and potential risks of Solution Focused Counselling?

The primary benefit of solution focused counselling is that the client finds solutions to their problems. This can result in a reduction in the symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression and interpersonal
relationships may improve. Another benefit of solution focused counselling is that the client and counsellor identify clear goals at the start. As a result of this the client and counsellor will both know what success looks like and therefore can easily identify when counselling is no longer required.

As with all forms of therapy, solution focused counselling can result in major life changes, such as a change in job, the beginning or ending of relationships etc. Major life changes such as these can be seen as a positive (a benefit) or as very difficult (a risk) by the client and/or the client’s friends, family, partner etc. However in the end it is the client’s decision what life changes they make.

Reference:
O’Hanlon, W. and Weiner-Davis, M. In Search of Solutions: A New Direction in Psychotherapy. W. W. Norton
& Company, Inc.: New York 1989.

To find out more about Solution Focused Counselling click the link.

Make an appointment today, Why wait in misery?

Based in Wagga Wagga, NSW.

Afternoon and evening appointments available for greater client flexibility

Basic assumptions about people and problems

The following are some of the assumptions and principles of solution focused framework which was influenced by Milton Erickson and the MRI team. 1. People operate out of their internal maps and not out of sensory experience. 2. People make the best choice for themselves at any given moment. 3. The explanation, theory, or metaphor used to relate facts about a person is not the person. 4. Respect all messages from the client. 5. Teach choice; never attempt to take choice away. 6. The resources the client needs lie within his or her own personal history. 7. Meet the client at his or her model of the world. 8. The person with the most flexibility or choice will be the controlling element in the system. 9. A person can’t not communicate. 10. If it’s hard work, reduce it down. 11. Outcomes are determined at the psychological level. (Lankton and Lankton, 1983)  Do not need to know the cause of the problem in order to find solutions  Client is the expert in their own life  People become problem saturated and lose their problem solving abilities  People have strengths and resources within themselves to find solutions  Do not need to go back to the past in order to influence the future  The problem is the problem, the person is not the problem  Change is inevitable  Small change leads to larger change  Problems continue when you apply the wrong solution  People in general [ Read More ]

The techniques and skills of solution focused framework

 NORMALIZATION is normalizing a situation or an event, use with care, as this technique has the potential to be effective, however we do not want to trivialise the client’s complaint. For example, a mother comes to see you and she is upset because her 15 year old daughter wants to go out on Friday night instead of staying indoors with Mum, we could normalise this with “a lot of teenage girls are wanting to establish peer relationships, which is important, however it must feel that she is growing up very fast”, so still acknowledging Mum’s feeling as well as normalizing the situation.  An EXCEPTION is when the problem is not around all the time, when the client did something different. For example the client is angry with mum, “tell me a time when angry didn’t get the better of you?” Looking for a time when the problem didn’t dominate 24/7.  REFRAMING is changing a negative label or negative view for a positive view or positive lens. It’s about changing the perspective or lens towards the problem. For example, a mother comes to see you and she is upset because the principle of her daughter’s school, has told her that her daughter is loud and demanding. We could reframe this as “sounds like she is assertive and motivated”. Changing the negative view of the behaviour to a positive view, like changing the TV channel over. Sometimes the problem is how we view the problem.  SCALING is asking [ Read More ]

Solution Focused Counselling

What is Solution Focused Counselling? Solution focused counselling focuses on solutions rather than the problems themselves. As such it highlights people’s strengths and competences instead of their perceived deficits, weaknesses and limitations. This shift in paradigm is dramatically different from previous counselling techniques that concentrated on identifying problems and trying to explain their origins. Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg were the founders of solution focused therapy in the 1980′s both were based in USA. Sadly both have pass away recently. There are several assumptions that provide the framework of solution focused counselling. All people have strengths and inner resources to solve life’s challenges. “Change is one of life’s constants”. Not only is change possible it is always happening. The counsellor’s role in the therapy session is to help each client identify the change that is occurring and to help them increase that level of change. We do not need to know what caused a problem to be able to solve it. Change begins with small steps The client is the expert in their life. The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem If its not working, do something different What are the benefits and potential risks of Solution Focused Counselling? The primary benefit of solution focused counselling is that the client finds solutions to their problems. This can result in a reduction in the symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression and interpersonal relationships may improve. Another benefit of solution focused counselling is that the client [ Read More ]