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

Approximately 74 million children attend schools in the United States.  75%-80% of youth receive mental health services in schools. A mental health condition adversely impairs one in five children, yet less than half of these children will receive treatment. 

Solution-Focused Conversations in Schools: An Integration of Education and Mental Health seeks to revolutionize practical and transdisciplinary implementation of solution-focused brief trauma-informed practices within diverse and fast-paced educational settings.  At its core, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a conversation and can be integrated into everyday conversations when applied with positive intention and training. This approach is not limited to professional counselors; anyone who can communicate can practice this approach effectively. SFBT, an evidence-based approach, aligns ideally within the realm of school mental health and educational settings.  Click here to read more about Solution-Focused School Mental Health.

The course structure includes an online self-paced, text, and lecture-based course with exams. It consists of twelve chapters of written materials, 10 video lectures, 34 demonstration videos, multiple case examples, individual and group practice exercises, and solution-focused games and activities. These resources illustrate the practical application of solution-focused techniques across multiple tiers of support commonly employed within educational settings.  The course further covers solution-focused educational plans, behavioral plans, solution-focused conversations in team meetings, various solution-focused games, and exercises applicable in diverse educational contexts, including school curricula, classrooms, group settings, families, individuals, and with administrative and educational staff. 

Upon completing this course, participants will successfully apply solution-focused conversational skills in educational settings, thereby making a positive impact on children and all the dedicated people involved in educating our collective youth.

Last Updated: February 2025

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

1. Identify how solution-focused conversations promote social-emotional learning and transdisciplinary collaboration with educators, mental health clinicians, and families in educational settings.
2. Recognize core solution-focused skills, fundamental tenets, and trauma-informed elements of solution-focused conversations.
3. Differentiate between solution-focused and problem-focused conversations, including shifts in paradigm, order, and language.
4. Identify solution-focused language strategies, including naming “root verbs,” cultivating positive vocabulary, and using appreciative and hopeful language.
5. Apply solution-focused amygdala whispering strategies in educational contexts to counterbalance intense emotions.
6. Select appropriate solution-focused questioning techniques, including direct compliments, indirect compliments, coping questions, and amplification of positive differences.
7. Identify solution-focused VIP mapping categories and their role in cultivating relationships in educational settings.
8. Recognize solution-focused goal negotiation techniques, including the best hope question, imagining a satisfying week, and the miracle question within educational settings.
9. Compare solution-focused scaling questions that activate agency to problem-focused ones that assess acuity.
10. Select appropriate solution-focused techniques to “work the scale” to enhance agency and develop a plan in educational settings.
11. Identify how solution-focused safety assessments differ from problem-focused risk assessments in educational settings.
12. Choose appropriate solution-focused follow-up questions based on whether things are better, the same, or worse in an educational setting.
13. Compare a solution-focused team meeting to a traditional problem-focused one within an educational setting.
14. Identify the essential components of a solution-focused individualized educational and behavioral plan in an educational setting.
15. Evaluate recent solution-focused research in schools, including studies on children and families.
16. Recognize how solution-focused conversations can be applied to anxiety, ADHD, substance use, and self-care in educational settings.
17. Identify ten solution-focused games and practice exercises that can be applied within an educational setting.
18. Analyze video case demonstrations that utilize solution-focused interventions to enhance school engagement with educators, youth, and families.

COURSE OUTLINE

1. Welcome and getting started
   1. Foundational Concepts and Framework
   2. Core 12 book chapters
   3. Core Solution-focused questions
   4. Solution-focused framework
   5. Summary of practice exercises
2. Introduction to Solution-Focused Conversations in Schools
3. Fundamentals of Solution-Focused Conversations in Schools
4. Amygdala Whispering and Agency Activation
5. VIP Mapping
6. Best Hope Mapping
7. Solution-Focused Scaling
8. Solution-Focused Safety Assessment
9. Sustaining Solution-focused conversations
10. Solution-focused team meetings and consultations
11. Solution-focused documentation and research
12. Catelog of 34 video demonstrations
13. Evaluation

Participants will be assessed through multiple-choice tests that evaluate their understanding and ability to apply the course material. Participants may retake the exam until they pass it successfully.

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

19 Credit/Clock Hours are available for this course 

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 complete the entire course, engage in all activities, and complete the course evaluation.

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 19 Clinical continuing education credits.

Once enrolled, participants can commence the course at any time. For a comprehensive list of our policies, please visit our policy page. complete list of policies can be viewed here.