Postmodern Approaches in Student Affairs Practice:

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy & Narrative Therapy

Tenets of Postmodern Approaches:

 Social constructionism: our knowledge is socially constructed and reflected in language
 Client is the expert of their own lived experience
 Practitioner is collaborative, transparent, respectful, and curious
 Present and future-oriented
 Strengths and assets versus problems and deficits
 There are many truths, realities, and meanings

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy:

Identify and utilize existing strengths and resources (skill-sets, knowledge, beliefs, motivations, social networks or
support systems, and/or life experiences) to set attainable, measurable, and realistic goals to meet desired outcomes

Utilizing Solution-Focused Questions:

 Exception Questions: When was the last time you didn’t have this problem, or it wasn’t as bad as you expected?
What was different?
 Miracle Question: Imagine when you go to sleep tonight a miracle happens: the problem is gone. How will you
know? What will be different? How will others know?
 Coping Questions: How have you been able to keep going despite challenges? How have you
managed/responded to the problem in the past?
 Scaling Questions: On a scale of 1-10 (1=the worst the problem could be, 10=the most desirable outcome), where
would you put yourself right now?
 Relationship Questions: Who would be the first to notice changes in you? What differences would they see?

Anticipate and work towards termination:

 Offer motivation to use resources to respond to and cope with future challenges

Narrative Therapy:
Challenge dominant and problem-saturated narratives that negatively impact client and work with them to re-
authoring experiences to reflect their identities and perspectives

 Externalize conversations and objectify the problem: Look at challenges, messages or power dynamics as
external factors that impact indivudal and remove problem from the person
 Identify unique outcomes: times when the problem was nonexistent, challenged, or overcome
 Re-author: Use strengths to explore a new interpretation, outlook, and response to future situations/challenges

Counseling Techniques in Narrative Therapy:

 Double-listening: Listen and understand from the client’s perspective and listen and understand the problem
 Witnessing: Actively listening and being fully present, engaged, and reflective: “What is the person saying, how
are they saying it, and what stand out?”
 Summarizing and Documenting: Reflect back students own words in verbal summaries and utilize tools such as
drawing, journal-writing, and list making to amplify their voice and process
 Questioning: Don’t ask questions that give a list (ex. “what are your strengths?”), ask questions that facilitate a
story (ex. “what would someone else admire or respect most about you?”)
 Postmodern Approaches in Student Affairs Practice:
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy & Narrative Therapy

Solution-Focused Reflection Worksheet

1. Think of a current challenge you’re facing…

2. When was the last time you weren’t facing this challenge, it wasn’t as bad as you expected, or
you were able to respond to it? What was different or what did you do that was different?

3. Imagine when you go to sleep tonight a miracle happens: the challenge is gone. How will you
know? What will be different? How will others in your life know?

4. How have you been able to keep going despite this challenge? How have you
managed/responded to it in the past?

5. On a scale of 1-10 (1=the worst the problem could be, 10=the most desirable outcome), where
would you put yourself right now? What would you need to do or change to move it 1-2 mark
up the scale?

6. Who would be the first to notice changes in you? What differences would they see?
 Postmodern Approaches in Student Affairs Practice:
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy & Narrative Therapy
Externalizing and Re-authoring Conversations Worksheet

Sam is an at-risk student when it comes to his academics. He’s currently failing two of his classes and is
not a good fit for his major. His professors are frustrated with him because he doesn’t apply himself,
has missed multiple classes, and doesn’t put in effort or interest in his school work.

1. Objectify the problem

2. How could you uncover unique outcomes to this problem?

3. How could Sam re-author this narrative about himself?

Erin and Jamie are roommates and cannot stand each other. Erin thinks Jamie is obnoxious. She leaves
her stuff all over the place and comes back to the room late, loud, and drunk after going out at night.
Jamie feels Erin is rude and doesn’t make an attempt to spend time together or hang out. Erin will
sometimes go days without saying a word to Jamie and build greater tension between the two

1. Objectify the problem

2. How could you uncover unique outcomes to this problem?

3. How could Erin and Jamie communicate their own alternative narratives in hopes of being able
to understand one another better?