Coming Soon – Solution-Focused Conversations in Schools:

An Integration of Education and Mental Health

Introduction to Clinical Practice Course SFBT

Solution-Focused Conversations in Schools: An Integration of Education and Mental Health

Text and lecture-based course with exam

TBD

A mental health condition adversely impairs one in five children, yet less than half of these children will receive treatment. Approximately 75%-80% of youth receive mental health services in schools. Successful clinical practice requires engaging positively with clients and those most important in their social context. This includes students, families, educators, administrators, community resources, and other stakeholders involved with children and adolescents. Solution-focused brief therapy, an evidenced-based approach, assists transdisciplinary teams in rapidly engaging in diverse and fast-paced environments. As such, it is an approach ideally suited for school mental health. Click here to read more about Solution-Focused School Mental Health

This course, Solution-Focused Conversations in Schools: An Integration of Education and Mental Health, attempts to reimagine how solution-focused brief trauma-informed practices can be practically implemented in a transdisciplinary way within schools. At its core, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a conversation and can happen in everyday conversations when applied with positive intention and training. People who can talk, not just those trained in counseling, can practice this approach.

Our best hope is to make a positive difference in the lives of children, families, and the myriad of dedicated professionals working daily to foster success for all our collective children.

This course includes a written component, video lectures, demonstration videos, case examples, and individual and group practice exercises demonstrating how Solution-Focused conversations are developed. Multiple classroom exercises are included within the course to assist teachers with practical tools for embedding social-emotional learning in their daily work.  Our best hope is that at the end of this course, you can implement these skills in your daily life, classrooms, educational settings, and all the contexts that support children’s educational, academic, and social-emotional success.  

Last Updated: January 2023

Target Audience: Social workers, psychologists, mental health counselors, educators, and medical professionals; appropriate for all levels of knowledge.

Learning Objectives

  • Describe how solution-focused brief therapy can help transdisciplinary engagement with educators, mental health clinicians, and families in school mental health.
  • Describe four key techniques on how the Solution-Focused tools can enhance school engagement with youth, educators, and families.
  • Compare how solution-focused interventions differ from problem-focused interventions when applied to children dealing with mental health conditions.
  • Critique video case demonstrations that utilize solution-focused interventions to enhance school engagement with educators, youth, and families.

Course Assessment

Participants will be assessed in the following manner:

  • A multiple-choice test will be designed to assess your understanding and ability to apply the course material. You may take the exam multiple times until you pass the exam.

Certificate of Completion

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

Continuing Education

Credit/Clock Hours are available for this course TBD

Please see our Continuing Education Information page for CE credits and clock hours and our accreditations and approvals for psychologists, social workers, counselors, and marriage & family therapists. The final authority for approving any continuing education activity rests with the state or province where the participant is licensed. Please contact your individual licensing boards to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal.

To receive continuing education hours, the participant must attend the entire presentation, engage in all activities, and complete the course evaluation.

Policy Information

Once enrolled, you may begin your course at any time.

Our complete list of policies can be viewed here.

Instructor and Consultants

Anne Bodmer Lutz, B.S.N., M.D. is the Director of the Institute for Solution Focused Therapy. She was trained by the founders of Solution-Focused Brief therapy, Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. She is a board-certified adult, child and adolescent psychiatrist, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester MA, and was a nurse before becoming a physician. Anne has a private practice in West Boylston Massachusetts where she integrates solution-focused practices in her treatment of children and families. She provides direct clinical supervision, teaching, and training to medical students and psychiatric residents, workshops for community-based treatment organizations, agency based training and coaching in Solution-Focused Therapy. She has worked for many years integrating solution-focused practices in community mental health, residential treatment and with adolescents and families coping with substance use and co-occurring disorders.

Anne is the author of Learning Solution-Focused Therapy: An Illustrated Guide (2014, American Psychiatric Press) which includes over 30 videos and many case examples focusing on “how to” implement this approach, along with numerous articles, and chapters in books. She received a Massachusetts Course of Distinction award in 2016 for the online and blended learning course entitled “Solution-Focused Fundamentals and Practice.”

Anne Bodmer Lutz, MD indicates that she has no conflicts of interest associated with this course.

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