Advanced – Solution-Focused Skills and Practice for Schools

The most effective way to learn solution-focused professional skills is to have intensive guided practice. This course provides participants with practice opportunities to demonstrate advanced solution-focused brief therapy in transdisciplinary school and educational settings. Participants will learn to apply solution-focused practices within diverse educational contexts, including the multi-systems of support, group settings, crisis situations, with parents, educational and team meetings, grief, trauma, and substance use disorders and wellness. Participants will learn to formulate solution-focused questions to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion. Participants will engage in video case discussions, break-out sessions, group exercises, and role-plays. Participants will be expected to provide a summary of written clinical practice exercises provided throughout the course. This course is limited to 25 participants per cohort to maximize interactive learning.

The course provides 12 hours total of live interactive teaching, personal and professional training practice exercises, case presentations, role-plays, and video observations demonstrating how participants have applied solution-focused skills in their unique educational setting. The 12-hours of training can be customized in a way that works best for your organization.

This course requires completion of BASIC – Solution-Focused Skills and Practice For Schools. This course is limited to 25 participants per cohort to maximize interactive learning.

We also offer this as a self-paced customized course:

ADVANCED: Self-Paced Solution-Focused Skills and Practice For Schools. By recording your organization’s live sessions, we can provide educational organizations with a customized ADVANCED Self-Paced Solution-Focused Skills and Practice for Schools course that offers a sustainable, flexible, and customizable solution to provide organizations with training and continuing education even if participants cannot be present for the 12 hours of live-interactive course. The self-paced customized course also provides solutions to meet the challenges of training staff in educational organizations with complex staffing needs, onboarding new staff, staff turnover, unanticipated crises that require immediate staff attention, or any of a variety of unpredictable events that make it difficult for staff to participate in all 12 hours of the live sessions. Continuing education mandates require participants to be present for the entire live synchronous courses. This self-paced course offers a creative solution. This course has a required exam to earn continuing education credits.

Last Updated: February 2025

Target Audience: 

Educators, school social workers, psychologists, mental health counselors, administrators, advisors, and medical practitioners in school and educational settings; appropriate for intermediate and advanced levels of knowledge. This course provides participants with practice opportunities to apply Solution-Focused Brief conversations within individual, group, family, team meetings, and administrative settings. This course provides opportunities for participants to observe video examples, engage in break-out sessions, group exercises, and role-plays and share successes and challenges in applying solution-focused practice.

1. Demonstrate solution-focused language techniques by engaging in role-plays and clinical exercises that promote a solution-focused mindset in school settings.
2. Analyze and apply solution-focused conversations in educational group settings by participating in video case discussions, break-out sessions, group exercises, and role-plays.
3. Demonstrate the use of solution-focused conversations in grief-related school contexts through interactive case discussions and structured role-play exercises.
4. Apply solution-focused strategies to school team and administration meetings, engaging in practical exercises, case-based scenarios, and video case analyses.
5. Implement solution-focused techniques to support clients and families experiencing substance use disorders in educational settings, utilizing group exercises and role-plays to reinforce key interventions.
6. Integrate solution-focused conversations that enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within educational environments by participating in collaborative exercises and structured case discussions.
7. Demonstrate solution-focused approaches when working with children, families, and adults who have experienced trauma in school settings, using video case discussions and interactive role-plays.
8. Examine and apply solution-focused techniques that promote wellness and self-care for both practitioners and clients, engaging in interactive exercises and reflective discussions.
9. Develop and present a school-based case example that synthesizes solution-focused practices into clinical or educational settings, demonstrating strategies through applied exercises.
10. Construct a reflective summary that evaluates clinical practice exercises and applies solution-focused techniques within school and educational contexts, incorporating insights from video analyses, case discussions, and interactive exercises.

Course Agenda

The course is structured into six sessions, each lasting 2 hours, for a total of 12 hours of live teaching. The 12 hours are scheduled to accommodate your organization’s needs. Each participant will receive an online course with materials for their reference. The live sessions are recorded and also put into your customized course. The six sections cover the following topics:

1. Review of solution-focused language and solution-focused questions
2. Applications of Solution-focused practices within team meetings and school scenarios using video examples and role-plays
3. Applications of solution-focused practices in the context of trauma and multi-system tiers of support using video examples and role-plays
4. Applications of solution-focused practices to promote wellness and self-care using role-plays and break-out sessions
5. Applications of solution-focused practices in safety assessment and treatment planning using video examples, case scenarios, and role-plays
6. Applications of solution-focused practices in your organization’s unique contexts

Participants will be assessed in the following manner:

• Class Participation: Participants are invited to clarify things they do not understand, pose questions, offer ideas, and broaden perspectives. 
• Produce a summary of written clinical practice exercises provided throughout the course.
• Present an example of how solution-focused practices are integrated into your area of practice.

12 CE Credit/Clock Hours are available for this live course.

Please see our Continuing Education Information page for information about CE credits and clock hours and our accreditations and approvals for psychologists, social workers, counselors, and marriage & family therapists.

Participants should check with their professional licensing boards to ensure that a specific course will be accepted toward their continuing education requirements.
To receive continuing education hours, the participant must attend the entire online presentation with their camera on, engage in all activities with their camera on, and complete the course evaluation.

Upon successfully completing the course, participants will be given instructions on downloading and printing their Certificates of Completion.

No conflicts of interest or commercial support are present for the CE program, instructor, or presentation.

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