Transcript Feminist & Solution-Focused

Feminist & Empowerment Theory
Solution-Focused Approach
Meeting 9
© Cheung, M., & Leung, P. (2008). Multicultural practice and
evaluation: A case approach to evidence-based practice.
Denver, CO: Love.
Instructors who adopt this book may use this PowerPoint to
teach your course without prior permission. Please address
questions and comments to [email protected].
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Leung
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Perception
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Use the handout to draw, write, or
symbolize …
Theme: What is your solution?
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Meanings
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Safety
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Land (grass, meadow, land without obstacles)
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Sea (calm, with rescuers)
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Objects (trampoline, bed/mattress, national flat)
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Hanging (trees)
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Floating (waiting for rescue)
Question: What can we do to make you feel comfortable?
Danger
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Not able to survive
Dangerous objects (sharks/crocodiles), rough current
Question: What can you do to overcome difficulties?
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Focus
Meaning
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Narrow to narrower
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Narrow to wider
Question: What would you do to widen your opportunity?
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Feminist Theory History
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First Wave
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Right to vote
Second Wave
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Demythologize women’s happiness as
resting in their fulfillment of the roles of
wife and mother
Three categories of feminism:
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3 Categories of Feminism
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Liberal feminism
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Socialist feminism
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freedom of choice, individualism, equality of
opportunity
class analysis, structural change in the economy and
the family
Radical feminism
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individual autonomy, reproductive freedom, against
authority and bureaucracy
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Conceptual Base for Practice
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Concepts
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“The personal is the political”
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Women’s mental health is directly related to
the degree women are valued in their culture
for their personal attributes and social role
performance.
“Woman NOT as victim”
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Help women understand the connotations of
victim as helpless and in need of protection
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Conceptual Base for Practice
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Theory: Social Learning Theory
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Socialization of women
Assess functioning on three levels
(emotional, cognitive, social)
Evidence
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Distinction between sex and gender
(physiological vs. sociocultural)
Survivors vs. victims
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Social Work Integration
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“A collaborative process between counselor
and client in which both identify, analyze, and
attempt to remediate the social, cultural, and
psychological barriers to women’s optimal
functioning, setting as the immediate goal the
alleviation of the client’s personal distress and
as the long-term goal the effecting of social
change” (Russell, 1984, p. 15).
Russell, M. (1984). Skills in counseling women—the feminist approach. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
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Feminist Code of Ethics
Feminist Therapy Institute:
 Cultural Diversities and Oppression
 Power Differentials
 Overlapping Relationships
 Practitioner Accountability
 Social Change
http://feminist-therapyinstitute.org/ethics.htm
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Affirming Your Qualities
Pick a note card
 Write an example about yourself that is
related to one of the qualities
 Announce your quality to your neighbor
by starting with:
I am ____ and I like it. In the past, I
have done … (to illustrate this quality).
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Check out your qualities
Bolton, B., & Brookings, J. (1996). Development of a multifaceted definition of empowerment.
Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 39(4), 256–264.
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Assertive
Autonomous
Collaborative
Committed
Competent
Community-oriented
Creative
Disability-oriented
Goal-directed
Independent
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Interdependent
Internally controlled
Personally responsible
Proud
Self-advocating
Self-discovering
Self-efficacious
Self-mastering
Self-reliant
Socially responsible
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Empowerment
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These 20 qualities are the 20 facets for
defining what empowerment is.
If you claim that you have more than
half of these qualities, you should be
able to empower others and be a
feminist social worker.
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Feminist Intervention—3
Stages
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Exploration
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Use historical material to facilitate understanding of oppression
Emphasize current concerns
“How does your culture influence your role as a woman (other
oppressed population)?”
Action
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5 components of social work feminist practice (Thomas, 1977)
“Tell me about your strengths (what you can do well).”
“What would your friends (other women) do in this situation?”
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Feminist humanism
Feminist consciousness
Changes in the traditional relationship between therapist and client
Consciousness-raising
Commonality of women’s experiences
Termination
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“What would you do in the future if this same problem occurs?”
Thomas, S. A. (1977). Theory and practice in feminist therapy. Social Work, 22(6), 447–454.
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Feminist Intervention—more
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Helping relationship btw two equals
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SW as facilitator in promoting self-help and group
support
Change
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Assertive training
Community education
Community organizing
Legislative advocacy
Thomas, S. A. (1977). Theory and practice in feminist therapy. Social Work, 22(6), 447–454.
© Love Publishing: Cheung &
Leung
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Gender Sensitive Practice
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Do not reinforce stereotyped gender roles
Encourage clients to
consider a wide range
of choices
Treat clients equally
Avoid misuse of power
and explain your
techniques if confusing
Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2008
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Help clients recognize
social, cultural, and
political impacts on lives
Help clients transcend
limitations resulting
from gender
stereotyping
Recognize how
internalization is
reflected through
behaviors
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Other Interventions
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Narrative Method
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Self-narratives: “Tell me a story about your ability
to learn.”
Cultural narratives: “Tell me an incident that your
child sees your role as a mother/father.” “Describe
a situation when your son heard someone talk
about the difference btw males and females.”
Externalizing the problem: “Describe the problem
as an unwelcome event.”
Using direct questions: “How has the problem
affected you as a mother/father?”
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Other Interventions
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Psychoeducational Method
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Help the client design a flyer that describes
inequality within the family, in the
community, within an organization, in
society, etc.
Construct a collage with your client about
the role of each family member.
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Practice with the Feminist
Approach
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Using Feminist Theory with couples—
Discuss what you learned from your
reading on Issue#3: Perceptions on
Healing (pp. 302–304)
Take turns and practice the “skills”
questions
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Where Do Solutions Come From?
From Yourself !
Figure it out
With an Analysis on Exceptions
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Solution-Focused Theory
 Assumes:
 Language is reality rather than a tool to help
uncover reality
 Don't focus on problem but solution
 Anxiety is a symptom of a problem-saturated
self-description
 Clients have strengths to solve problems
 We can construct a new world view
 Goal: To construct new realities based on
productive choices
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Constructivism
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Therapists shouldn’t impose what they think is
normal or abnormal on clients.
Example: Client Sue, “I want to leave Houston.”
S-F assuming:
There is little relevance in terms of
 How she got to Houston
 How long she’s been here
 What’s kept her from leaving earlier
 Nature of Houston
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Constructivism
S-F focusing on:
 How leaving will help her
 Where she wants to go
 Resources at her disposal before leaving
and for getting there
 Desires/exceptions
Limitation of this approach: Not knowing the
history that has affected this decision
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S-F Assessment Form
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Solution-Focused Assessment
(p. 335)
Provide answers to some of the
questions
In pairs, practice (take turns reading
the questions)
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Solution-Focused Process
1st Session
 Constructing a complaint (4W1H)
 Searching for exceptions
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Describe the exceptions (deliberate or
spontaneous?)
Find the differences btw exceptions and complaint
Setting goals
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Do more of what works
Randomly do more of what works
Do easiest of what might work
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Techniques
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Solution Seeking Oriented Language
(“Change” as the language)
Seeking Exceptions to the Complaint
Focusing on Client’s Strengths
The Miracle Question
Others are more behaviorally oriented
(e.g., Identifying and clarifying goals)
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Solution-Focused Language
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Tell me what you would like to change.
Observe what is going on when your
parents are not on your back.
Give an example:
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Application of the Solution Cards
(Advice Cards on WebCt)
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Cut each piece and paste it on an index card
In class, we will try this exercise
For a relationship question or problem, ask
the client to pick one of the cards and read it
to the partner or children in a family therapy
session (or group members in a group
setting)
For daily reflection, just read one per day
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Miracle Questions
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What would life be like without this problem?
Close your eyes and imagine that the
problem is gone. Tell me what has been
changed to make the problem go away.
Suppose there were a miracle and your
problem disappeared, how would you know
it’s been resolved?
If the problem has disappeared, what
(who) would be different?
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Solution-Focused Process
2nd Session
 Assessing goals
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Better  Note difference between changes
& complaint
Better  Do more of the same  Goals
met?
Not better  Deconstruct complaint
pattern Check on task performance
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Finding the Exceptions
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Backward
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“Has there been a time in the recent past that you
didn’t feel this problem?”
“Describe a time when the child behaved.”
“Think about a situation when he helped you.”
Forward
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“Can you predict what would you do in the
evening when the kids are behaving themselves?”
“What would you do when he offers to help you?”
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Prescribe More That Worked
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“You said when you smiled, he did not
talk back. Remember to smile every
time when you disagree with him.”
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The Case Approach
with Mary & Her Family
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Issue #2: Accepting Changes (p. 320)
Check one technique that you
would like to try
Discuss how you would use this
technique (e.g., what problem and
under what circumstance)
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Solution-Focused Process
Subsequent Sessions
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Identifying potential exceptions
Choosing among interventions
 tasks can be experimental
Observations: focused, random
Perception changes: in control, not in control
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Amplifying Client’s Suggestion
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Mom: “I’d like to make changes only
when my kids would listen.”
SW: “Are you considering making
changes with your kids together?”
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S-F Assessment Form
(… again)
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What do you see as the S-F techniques
in these questions?
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Searching for Exceptions
Prescribe What Has Worked Best
Change and S-F Language
Fast Forward
Strengths-Based Questions
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Skills Practice
• In pairs, practice the techniques
listed in the book
• Find at least one more example per
technique
• Think about a situation when you
offer S-F to yourself
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Affirmations (From your solution cards)
 Don’t
lose touch with the craziness in
you. This, with a large dose of caring,
will assure that your relationship will
never be boring.
 If
each partner in a relationship is
willing to give 75% of him- or herself,
then you will have 50% more than you
need for a perfect relationship.
© Love Publishing: Cheung &
Leung
37
References
• Bolton, B., & Brookings, J. (1996). Development of a multifaceted
definition of empowerment. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin,
39(4), 256–264.
• Cheung, M., & Leung, P. (2008). Multicultural practice and
evaluation: A case approach to evidence-based practice. Denver,
CO: Love.
• Goldenberg, H., & Goldenberg, I. (2008). Family therapy: An
overview. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
• Russell, M. (1984). Skills in counseling women—the feminist
approach. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
• Thomas, S. A. (1977). Theory and practice in feminist therapy.
Social Work, 22(6), 447–454.
© Love Publishing: Cheung &
Leung
38