Bush / Steiner / Basel Youth2Youth

The implementation of the Youth2Youth Program a best practice reader
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-3-7431-8348-3
Verlag: BoD - Books on Demand
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 152 Seiten

terre des hommes schweiz has elaborated the innovative capacity building program Youth2Youth based on the Solution Focused Approach (SFA) together with the child psychiatrist Dr. Therese Steiner in Southern Africa, Central and South America. This program helps youth gain self-esteem and experience self-efficacy. The SF mindset and methodology enables youth to define personal goals and reach them step by step by using their already existing strengths. Many of these young people are like coated stones: they carry a treasure inside, they are not aware of, because violence, neglect, poverty and marginalization makes it impossible for them to recognize their competences and abilities. This best practice reader describes the implementation of the program and participants that have attended the program tell us abouth its impact on their life. It also presents a toolkit for SFA-facilitators with exercises and ideas that are helpful to make students understand the principles of SFA. Furthermore it includes a genuine collection of creative methods on how to introduce SF mindset and methodology through different channels.

Art therapist and expert for the Psychosocial Support of terre des hommes schweiz has initiated the Youth2Youth Project within the organization and coordinates the Regional Youth2Youth Program in Southern Africa, Central and South America. She describes the close cooperation with Therese Steiner as a great opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bush, Irene

Steiner, Therese

Basel, Terre Des Hommes Schweiz

Leseproben

Part 1: Lessons learned in the Youth2Youth Program

SFA in a nutshell Therese Steiner

In this chapter Therese Steiner introduces the in a concentrated form to give an idea of the mindset and the most important tools being used.

The was developed as therapy model by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in Milwaukee (USA) in the early 1980’s. It is based on the following assumptions:

• Every human being has strengths and resources
• Change is inevitable, nothing stays always the same
• If something works do more of it, if it doesn’t work do something else
• Small steps can lead to big changes
• The solution is not necessarily directly related to the problem
• No problem happens all the time. There are always exceptions that can be used
• The future is created and negotiable
• The language used for developing solutions is different than the language used to describe the problem

The is a way of thinking, it is a certain mind set. This mind set is characterized by:

• The respect for the uniqueness of the human being
• The acknowledgment and validation of the person‘s strengths and competences
• The readiness to listen and take seriously what a person says
• The interest in the person’s preferred future and goals

SFA is future oriented

The main topic when working with people is to get a description of the wished future. There is no problem assessment. However people are used to talking about their problems and problem talk happens over and over again. In we listen to it without asking questions that are related to the problem. As soon as possible we ask the people what they would like to see happen in their life instead of the problematic situation. Very often a person can come up with one or two ideas and then slips back to the description of the problem. This is normal and it means we have to go backwards to the past and listen to the client’s problems and then again focus on the future by asking specific questions. A person who works solution focused can be recognized by the questions they ask and how they show their curiosity in the client’s life.

SFA works cooperatively, no advice is given

In this approach the dialogue partners have different competences. The person who is seeking support is the expert of their life. That means they know best what will be helpful for them to make the necessary change.

The expertise of the person giving support is to help the dialogue partner create hope, formulate well-formed goals and realize their own competences. This is done through useful questions and the specific interest for all that is already working in the dialogue partner’s life.

To conceptualize the dialogue process in this way has the consequence that there is no hierarchy between the dialogue partners and the partner giving support does not give advice as it is impossible to know what is helpful for the other person.

What can be done is to offer suggestions in a tentative language. This means in a form that the partner can reject or if it is acceptable, agree with the offered idea.

• EXAMPLE: Listening to you I was wondering whether it could make a difference in your conflict if you started to be punctual.
• Listening to you it crossed my mind, whether it could be a possibility to go around to her house and apologize for what has happened.

SFA focus on the doing level

A person’s action influences the thinking as well as the emotions. It is impossible to do something without these two parameters. Most of the time the easiest thing to change is the action. This is usually easier than changing the thinking and the emotions.

We can always ask the people to pretend:

Pretend that they are courageous, pretend that they know how to master a situation, pretend they are a little bit happier and so on. The fact is that already pretending helps to change the thinking and the emotions.

The conviction that it is helpful to focus on the doing level shows for instance in the ways we deal with people’s wish for better feelings.

• EXAMPLE: Suppose you will be happier, what will you be doing that you are not able to do at the moment.
• Suppose you will feel more competent about yourself how will that influence your actions? What will you be doing then?

SFA focus on meaningful, positive changes

In order to be helpful to a person, focuses on positive changes. Very often people in difficult situations do not notice when things go slightly better. As they find themselves still in challenging circumstances, no attention is paid to small differences. It is our duty to elicit and amplify the smallest change as tiny it might be by exploring in detail how this difference was constructed and could happen. The careful awareness of progress creates hope and promotes further change.

Language creates reality

The is based on the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Steve de Shazer wrote a book with the title: ‘Words Were Originally Magic’. In this book he explains how words create reality.

• EXAMPLE: There is a difference between the statements: ‘This person is aggressive’ and ‘this person behaves aggressively.’The first statement transports the idea that aggression is a characteristic of this person and therefore is always present and true, similar to the characteristic to be a male.

The second statement however transports the idea of a behavior and behaviors normally vary according to circumstances.

• There is a difference between the statement ‘She didn’t join the group because she was sad” and the statement ‘She didn’t join the group and was sad”. The first statement conveys the idea that not joining the group has something to do with the person’s sad feelings. The second statement describes just two phenomena without creating a causal connection. In the second statement it stays open whether joining the group and feeling sad has something to dowith one another. In order to find out we have to ask the person.

When working in a way we have to be aware of the language we use and keep in mind that the language that is required for solution development is different from the language used to describe the problem.

An expert in a conversation is interested in:

• What has to be achieved, what is the wish and how does a person want to achieve this goal? (Goal, dynamic of the situation)
• What can the person do? (Resources)
• What is the first step? (Doing)

There are specific communication skills that help support the solution building process:

1. “Not knowing” position

It is helpful to explore the other person’s perception. That means with an open mind and not judgmental ears one should listen to the description of the actual situation and the wished changes.

Helpful questions:

• You must have a good reason:

EXAMPLE: You must have a good reason not to show up, not to make what you were told, not to listen to your boss, not to tell the truth....

• How is this problem for you?

EXAMPLE: How is this problem for you not to have succeeded?

That you do not get the same good results as your fellows? That you are not estimated by the youth? That youth is not listening to you?

• How is this helpful?

EXAMPLES: How is it helpful for you not to tell the truth?

How is it helpful to run away?

To want to commit suicide?

• What difference does it make?

EXAMPLES: What difference does it make when you behave like that?

When you are aggressive? When you shout? What about shouting is important? When you take drugs? The answers to these sorts of questions give you an idea of the very individual perceptions and value system of the person you are working with.

2. Compliments

Compliments empower the people we are working with. They are helpful to create hope because they help people realize that they have already competences to do helpful things. Compliments can activate a person and therefore can have a tremendous impact.

There are mainly two sorts of compliments:

The direct compliment is a positive connotation or reaction by the helper in response to a person.

• EXAMPLE: You seem to be an adolescent who cares a lot about the children.

It is impressive how devoted you are to support youth in solving the conflicts.

The indirect compliment is a question that implies something positive about a person and gives them the opportunity to explain and talk more about what they are doing well.

• EXAMPLE: What do you think the children would say regarding how you are looking after them?

How did you learn to do it? How did you figure out staying calm would be helpful?

In the end it is not what we say that counts but what the other person hears!

Therefore, we have to make sure that people hear what we are saying. There are little things we can do to increase the chance that the compliment is heard. For...