Abstract
In our direct work with adolescents with disruptive behaviors, we use an engagement strategy consistent with the basic objectives and techniques of solution-focused counseling. We have found that solution-focused approaches strengthen the therapeutic alliance and motivate adolescents to attempt specific interventions introduced later in the Challenging Horizons Program. Our approach is somewhat unorthodox because we blend strategies based on seemingly incompatible theories: On the one hand, we use solution-focused strategies focusing on the adolescent’s strengths and stated goals; and on the other hand, we introduce a set of predefined, manualized interventions that target common attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related impairments. Despite the surface contradictions, we have found that using solution-focused strategies early in the intervention process is effective in reducing the potential hesitancies many adolescents feel when starting work with a counselor, thereby opening the door to technique-driven interventions later. In this chapter, we describe the basic tenets of this strategy and discuss ways that practitioners can engage clients with ADHD who may initially be resistant to intervention.
The necessity for bringing the child into a good relationship to his mentor is of prime importance. The worker cannot leave this to chance; he must deliberately achieve it and he must face the fact that no effective work is possible without it.
August Aichhorn, from Wayward Youth (1925)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The philosopher Karl Popper criticized Freud’s Psychoanalysis and Adler’s Individual Psychology be-cause the underlying theories cannot be falsified; thus, according to Popper, these therapies cannot be considered scientific, although still potentially useful. Popper came to this conclusion even though he personally admired Alfred Adler. In a famous lecture, Popper told the following story: “Once, in 1919, I reported to [Adler] a case which to me did not seem particularly Adlerian, but which he found no difficulty in analyzing in terms of his theory of inferiority feelings, although he had not even seen the child. Slightly shocked, I asked him how he could be so sure. ‘Because of my thousand-fold experience,’ he replied; whereupon I could not help saying: ‘And with this new case, I suppose, your experience has become thousand-and-one-fold’” (Popper 1963). Popper’s point was that Adler simply looked for cases to validate his theory and found evidence everywhere, rather than testing whether predictions based on his theory held. The former strategy is pseudo-scientific and dogmatic, where the latter is scientific and flexible.
- 2.
- 3.
In our work with adolescents with ADHD, we rarely discuss the disorder or attempt to understand all of the potential cognitive deficits at play. Instead, we focus almost entirely on functional outcomes.
- 4.
According to Franklin et al. (2001), these defining elements of SFBT were reviewed and approved by both Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in 1997 in personal communication.
- 5.
In a classic social psychology experiment, researchers found that children who received teacher encour-agement that presupposed success outperformed children who were lectured and persuaded (e.g., “You should…”) on outcomes related to classroom rule compliance and academic performance (Miller et al. 1975). In our view, the presuppositional language of SFBT is a fantastic example of how to apply these lessons to counseling.
- 6.
When conducting research in schools, it is often difficult to conduct randomization to condition because of the difficulties this can create for the school schedule, so the limitations in the studies above are not necessarily surprising.
- 7.
In these scenarios, we use verbatim transcripts from actual counseling sessions recorded during our studies. The only changes made to these transcripts were the removal of excessive verbal markers (e.g., “um, um…”) and information that could identify the clients. In all cases, informed consent was acquired from parents and the adolescents prior to taping, and our consent procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board at James Madison University and Ohio University.
- 8.
This question may have been better phrased as, “What gives your supervisor that impression?”
- 9.
As we discuss in Chap. 5, we use this scale frequently when helping adolescents to set and then assess their performance on their social goals.
- 10.
Claims of abuse or suicidal thinking (or any other potentially dangerous situations) should be handled appropriately—always ensuring clients are safe—but we assume that readers have the appropriate back-ground in these precautions.
References
Barkley, R. A. (Ed.). (2006). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Budman, S. H. (1981). Looking toward the future. In S. H. Budman (Ed.), Forms of brief therapy (pp. 461–467). New York: Guilford Press.
Cialdini, R. B. (2008). Influence: Science and practice (5th ed.). Needham Heights. MA: Allyn & Bacon.
de Shazer, S. (1985). Keys to solution in brief therapy. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
de Shazer, S. (1988). Clues: Investigating solutions in brief therapy. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
de Shazer, S. (1997). Radical acceptance. Family, Systems, and Health, 15, 375–378.
Franklin, C., & Streeter, C. L. (2005). Solution-focused alternatives for education: An evaluation of Gonzalo Garza Independent High School. Austin: University of Texas, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.
Franklin, C., Biever, J., Moore, K., Clemons, D., & Scamardo, M. (2001). The effectiveness of solution-focused therapy with children in a school setting. Research on Social Work Practice, 11, 411–434.
Franklin, C., Moore, K., & Hopson, L. (2008). Effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy in a school setting. Children and Schools, 30, 15–26.
Gingerich, W. J., & Eisengart, S. (2000). Solution-focused brief therapy: A review of the outcome research. Family Process, 39, 477–498.
Gino, F., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2008). Blinded by anger or feeling the love: How emotions influence advice taking. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1165–1173.
Hay, C. E., & Kinnier, R. T. (2001). Homework in counseling. In H. G. Rosenthal (Ed.), Favorite counseling and therapy homework assignments (pp. 223–234). Philadelphia: Brunner-Routledge.
Kendall, P. C., Gosch, E., Furr, J. M., & Sood, E. (2008). Flexibility within fidelity. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 987–993.
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2002). Motivational interviewing: Preparing people for change (2nd edn.). New York: Guilford.
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford.
Miller, R. L., Brickman, P., & Bolen, D. (1975). Attribution versus persuasion as a means of modifying behavior. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31(3), 430–441.
MTA Cooperative Group. (2004). National institute of mental health multimodal treatment study of ADHD follow-up: Changes in effectiveness and growth after the end of treatment. Pediatrics, 113, 762–769.
Murphy, J. J. (1997). Solution-focused counseling in middle and high schools. Alexandria: American Counseling Association.
Murphy, J. J. (2008). Solution-focused counseling in schools (2nd ed.). Alexandria: American Counseling Association.
Newsome, S. (2004). Solution-focused brief therapy groupwork with at-risk junior high school students: Enhancing the bottom line. Research on Social Work Practice, 14, 336–343.
Newsome, S. (2005). The impact of solution-focused brief therapy with at-risk junior high school students. Children & Schools, 27, 83–90.
Popper, K. (1963). Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. London: Routledge.
Prout, H. T. (2007). Counseling and psychotherapy with children and adolescents: Historical developmental, integrative, and effectiveness perspectives. In H. T. Prout & D. T. Brown (Eds.), Counseling and psychotherapy with children and adolescents: Theory and practice for school and clinical settings (3rd ed., pp. 1–31). Hoboken: Wiley.
Selekman, M. D. (1997). Solution focused therapy with children: Harnessing family strengths for systemic change. New York: Guilford Press.
Sibley, M. H., Kuriyan, A. B., Evans, S. W., Waxmonsky, J., & Smith, B. H. (2014). Pharmacological and psychosocial treatments for adolescents with ADHD: An updated systematic review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 34, 218–232.
Taffel, R. (2005). Breaking through to teens: A new psychotherapy for the new adolescence. New York: Guilford.
Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures. (1995). Training in and dissemination of empirically-validated psychological treatments: Report and recommendations. Clinical Psychologist, 48, 3–23.
Tyron, W. W. (2007). What ever happened to symptom substitution? Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 963–968..
Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J., & Fisch, R. (1974). Change: Principles of problem formation and problem resolution. New York: Norton & Company.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schultz, B., Evans, S. (2015). Counseling Adolescents with ADHD. In: A Practical Guide to Implementing School-Based Interventions for Adolescents with ADHD. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2677-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2677-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2676-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2677-0
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)