Cultivating a Solution-Focused Mindset:
Tools for Treating Anxiety and Depression While Nurturing Self-Care
Cultivating a Solution-Focused Mindset: Tools for Treating Anxiety and Depression While Nurturing Self-Care
Live in-person interactive training
Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
6 CE Credit/Clock Hours
Cost: Early Bird: $209 until May 31st.
Standard: $219 starting June 1st.
Group Rate: $175/ Student Rate: $125
—
Location: New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, Boylston, MA
Includes: Free admission to the New England Botanic Garden. Explore the Garden
Light continental breakfast and boxed lunch are provided
Cultivating a Solution-Focused Mindset: Tools for Treating Anxiety and Depression While Nurturing Self-Care is a restorative, evidence-based training that integrates the core tenets of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with practical strategies for supporting individuals experiencing anxiety and depression. Set in the serene surroundings of the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, this one-day, in-person course offers a unique blend of professional development and personal renewal. Participants will deepen their clinical skills, gain access to structured tools for immediate application, and reconnect with their own well-being as helping professionals.
This training is grounded in The Solution-Focused Mindset for Anxiety and Depression by Anne Bodmer Lutz, M.D., and focuses on helping clinicians and allied health professionals shift from a problem-saturated lens to one that highlights strengths, hope, and forward movement. Rather than revisiting trauma or reliving painful emotions, this approach teaches how to guide clients toward clarity, empowerment, and meaningful change through focused language, scaling tools, relationship mapping, and future-oriented conversations.
This program addresses both theoretical foundations and applied techniques. Participants will leave equipped to support emotional regulation, enhance motivation, build resilience, and foster hope using the powerful, strengths-based principles of SFBT—while also attending to their own well-being in the process.
Last Updated: April 2025
Target Audience: Social workers, psychologists, mental health counselors, educators, occupational therapists, and medical professionals; appropriate for all levels of knowledge.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the core principles of the solution-focused mindset and describe how these principles can support individuals experiencing anxiety and depression.
- Explain how strength-based language can influence emotional regulation, motivation, and engagement in daily activities.
- Recognize techniques for managing emotional intensity, including how solution-focused tools such as amygdala whispering may be helpful in supporting individuals with anxiety and depression.
- Use the VIP Mapping tool to identify supportive relationships and environments, and explain how these supports can foster connection, resilience, and positive change.
- Describe how best hope questions and solution-focused dialogue can be used to begin developing collaborative, future-oriented goals with clients.
- Describe how scaling techniques can be used to observe client progress, reinforce coping strategies, and guide planning for next steps.
- Identify simple follow-up strategies that help sustain client progress, using solution-focused questions and outcome-based reflection.
- Describe the components of the Solution-Focused Four-Square Framework and explain how each part can support client conversations and clinician wellness.
Course Agenda
- Introduction to the Solution-Focused Mindset
- Amygdala Whispering: Managing Emotional Intensity
- VIP Mapping: Strengthening Connections
- Best Hope Mapping and Goal Development
- Solution-Focused Scaling: Planning Next Steps
- Sustaining Your Solution-Focused Practice
This course consists of the following components. The program must be completed in order, and your certificate of completion will only be given once all components are complete.
- Live, in-person, interactive training
- Course Evaluation
- Certificate of Completion
Course Assessment
Class Participation: Participants are invited to clarify things they do not understand, pose questions, offer ideas, and broaden perspectives. Participants are encouraged to participate in exercises and discussions.
Continuing Education
6 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 occupational therapists.
The Institute for Solution-Focused Therapy, provider number 1831, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 9/22/2023 – 9/22/2026. Social workers completing this course receive 6 Clinical continuing education credits.
Participants should check with their professional licensing boards to ensure that a specific course will be accepted for 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, 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.
Policy Information
Once enrolled, you may begin your course at any time.