Promoting Positive Mental Health, Resiliency

& Solution Focused Communication

Parent Voice Matters - YRDSB Parent Symposium

Wednesday April 15, 2015

Christine Arnone - Regional Pathways Teacher/Guidance Counsellor

Vicky Essebag - Curriculum Consultant Guidance/Pathways

YRDSB

A Solution-Focused Reflection

Imagine a very valuable session tonight….

What knowledge and skills will you be taking

with you?

Goals for this Session

▪Extend understanding of youth mental health,

growth-mindset and resiliency

▪Learn to apply solution-focused communication

that supports positive mental health and

resiliency

We All Have Mental Health...

Mental Health...Did you Know?

Resiliency

“The ability to adapt well to adversity, trauma,

tragedy, threats or even significant sources of

stress” ~American Psychology Association

Resiliency helps us move toward “healthy” on

the continuum

We all at some point will be faced with adversity.

How we deal with it and how we bounce back

speaks to our resiliency

Our Best Intentions...

“We have become a culture of trying to make

sure our kids are comfortable. We as parents

are trying to stay one step ahead of

everything our kids are going to run into.” ~Raising Resilient Kids

The problem? Life doesn’t work that way.

We need to raise resilient youth

Developing Resiliency

•Shed pre-existing labels that impact our perception of

student self-concept, learning and behaviour

•Explore the impact of growth-mindset (C. Dweck)

•Understand neuroplasticity (brains ability to change as

a result of experience)...we can train our brains! (K. Hofman)

-

•Hope impacts success; Optimism and

hope are not random feelings;

they can be conscious choices (M.Seligman)

•Self-regulation; a shift from thinking in terms of

controlling to regulating a child– through strategy

and reduced stress (S. Shanker)

•Healthy risk-taking & role of self-compassion

(K.Neff)

Resilient youth are…..

• able to problem solve next steps

• do not fear challenges, but strive to find a

solution

• are able to ask for help

• recover more quickly from setbacks; and see

them as a challenge to overcome

• take healthy risks

How Can We Promote Resiliency?

The Gratitude Journal - 21 Day Challenge

For 21 days log 3 new things that you have

been grateful for in the last 24hrs

Re-wire your brain to look for the positive

The Cognitive Triangle

➔ learn to be mindful of our

thoughts-feelings-actions

A Solution Focused Mindset

• All individuals are able to be successful

• Goal-setting and action-planning

• Using personal strengths to deal with

challenges

Why does SFC work in conversations

with our children?

•Key questions are efficient in zeroing in on issues

•Steers adult away from advice-giving

•Celebrate small successes - hope

•Although shift is not always seen, it happens

• Adapted to all ages

Guiding Principles in SFC

•Listen - Delayed response

•Paraphrasing helps to keep re-negotiating

what is happening

•Praise the action, not the person - and the

effort over the outcome

SFC Questions

SCALING

EXCEPTION

FUTURE-

ORIENTED

Used to clarify information by assessing personal

perception of issue, intensity of problem, goals,

motivation, confidence

Scaling Questions

•On a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is you understand the

assignment and 1 is you don’t at all, what number would

you give yourself?

•On a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is you want to find a

way to be more organized and 1 is you’re not at all

motivated, where are you on the scale?

•What will help you to move up a step?” How will

you know when you’ve moved up a step?

Extending Conversation Using

Scaling Questions

• How did you come to this number?

• What helped you to get to this number?

• What number would you like to get to?

• How come?

• What will help you to get there?

• What do you see when you look at the 10?

What does it mean for you?

• Is this where you want to be?

Exception Questions

Why do we use them?

•Even chronic problems have periods of time

when they do not occur or are less intense.

•During these exceptions, our children use

effective coping strategies. What are they?

•These personal strengths can be used again

Further Exploring Exceptions

▪When have you been more successful at focusing?

▪What were you doing/thinking at the time?

▪How did you manage to be more focused then? (identifying exception)

▪How did that approach help you? (amplifying exception)

Poking holes in the problem picture and

focusing on personal resources

Exception Questions

• I noticed you had all of your belongings ready

yesterday to leave on time for school. What helped

you to get them ready?

• How did you do it?

• How did your teacher react when she saw that you

were right on time for class?

• What did that feel like?”

• Did your friends notice a difference?

• What did it feel like for you when you were on time?

Future-Oriented Questions

•Visualizing best case scenario

•What does your child ideally want instead of the

current reality?

•What personal strengths will help your child get

there?

•This is the first step to establishing goals and

action plans.

What will life be like when the problem is solved or the situation has improved?

Future-Oriented Questions

•When you and your friend Mark will be getting along, what will that look like?” •What will help you to make that happen? •Exactly what will you be doing differently? •What will you be saying/feeling/thinking when you and Mark are getting along?

To encourage conversation...

Responding to ‘I don’t know’.

Suppose you knew the answer, or if you were to guess, what would you say?).

What else?

When rather than If

www.yrdsb.ca

Q & A

Reflection

Think back to your solution-focused

reflection from the start of this session and

ask yourself:

What was useful?

What do you still need?

Recommended Reading

Tales of Solutions: A Collection of Hope Inspired Stories - Insoo Kim Berg & Yvonne Dolan, 2001

Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions - Insoo Kim Berg & Peter Szabo, 2005

Doing Something Different: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Practices- Thorana S. Nelson, 2010

Counseling Toward Solutions: A Practical Solution-Focused

Program for Working with Students, Teachers, and Parents– Linda

Metcalf, 2008

Thank you!

Contact

christine.arnone@yrdsb.ca

vicky.essebag@yrdsb.ca