Therapist's Notebook on Strengths and Solution-Based Therapies

Bob Bertolino, PhD, is a licensed marital and family therapist and assistant professor of rehabiltation counseling at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri.Michael Kiener, PhD, is a certified rehabilitation counselor and action research associate in the Center for Teaching Excellence at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri.Ryan Patterson, MSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and director of clinical services at Youth in Need, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri

"Bertolino, Kiener and Patterson, out of the depth of their considerable combined experience, have written a must have resource to help clinicians eager for success to find tools in this book to achieve that success in a very effective, positive, and encouraging process. They demonstrate that being a clinician can be creative fun as well as a challenge. Their succinct summary of theory buttressed by over 100 practical carefully described techniques is a new special asset for clinicians."- Robert Sherman, EdD, professor emeritus, Queens College, New York "This book is a wonderful accompaniment to Bertolino et al.'s Therapist Notebook for Families, which was a good selling volume. This one is the more general strengths and solutions focused Notebook that probably should have come first, but will be a good addition at this point."- Terry S. Trepper, Ph.D.

• Part I: Becoming Strengths and Solution-Based (SSB): Creating a Context for Change. The Philosophical Inventory: Expanding Awareness and Impact of Beliefs. Dismantling Your Status Quo: Challenging Assumptions and Gaining Insight. Creating New Meaning: All Our Actions are Meaningful. Taking the ic Out of the Person: Seeing the Core Within. Composing Your Theoretical Worldview: What I Believe. Me, Myself, and I: Understanding Personal Strengths. How I Describe What I Do: Examining Personal Theory and Principles of Change. The Key is Collaboration: Working with Clients. Expectations and Next-pectations: Learning Clients’ Preferences for Therapy. The Body Knows: The Influence of Words. What are Words for? Terminology as a Pathway of Connection. Individuality, Uniqueness, and Strength: Working with People Who Have a Long List of Labels. Becoming the Hero of Your Own Story: Changing Narratives and Lives through a Creative Process. Part II: Getting Focused: Exploring Strengths and Solutions in Information-gathering. It’s Your Life: Creating Space for the Client’s Story. Hello, My Name is: Meeting Yourself Again. Lowering Walls and Building Bridges: Initial Steps in Creating Collaborative Relationships. Stone Soup: Acknowledging Strengths, Potential, and Contributions to Change. Stenographer: I Said What?. What’s the Effect? Exploring the Influences of Problems. What Does That Look Like? Translating Ambiguity Through Action-Talk. G-O! Focusing on Goals and Outcomes. Goals for Goal Setting: Charting a Clear Course. From Problem-Talk to Solution-Talk: Creating Possibilities Through Language. Future Screening: Creating a Vision for the Future. Destination Imagination: Envisioning the Future Through Miracles, Dreams, and the Extraterrestrial. I Can See Clearly Now: Developing a Future Focus. From Here to Where? Service Planning for Change. In Many Ways: Mapping Paths of Change. The Spokes of Life: Cultivating Resources. What Tips the Sca