How the 'Solution Focused Trifecta' is Different

What Works

Educator choice and connection to the topic is critical for buy-in, tailoring messages to the audience at hands.

What’s Next

This training helps participants break the problem-solving trap AND learn the foundational aspects of solution-focused practice as it applies to THEIR roles.
Although the Solution Focused Trifecta most obviously connects to counselors and social workers, it is designed to help all educators create a unified understanding of what’s wanted while exploring what works and co-constructing what’s next.

What Works

PD should cover the “Why”, “What”, and “How” the topic can help participants grow.

What’s Next

The ‘Solution Focused Trifecta’ spends a large portion of time helping educators learn HOW to implement the approach, solidifying the concepts step-by-step to build a strong foundation.
The approach also resonates with educators because it largely mirrors the Understanding by Design (i.e., backwards design) philosophy educators already know.

What Works

Educators need PD when they have time to reflect and implement the knowledge, not when it is convenient for the school calendar.
PD needs to support people as they implement the ideas.

What’s Next

The in-person portions come before, during, and/or after the book groups have started, avoiding the trap of placing PD when people need to prepare for student arrival or they need to finish assessing and recording student data.
Similarly, it can be launched at any time of the year or rolled out to different groups at different times because the book and video modules guide people through their growth whenever they start building.
Finally, the small groups work together to help people both reflect and continue building their understanding together, providing positive peer pressure to succeed.

Educators of all kinds are burning out at a faster rate than they can be replaced. It doesn’t have to be that way.

People Supported: SF practice builds hope.

Helps people crystalize their vision of success and create a path to attain it.
Prevents defensiveness and resentment because there is neither judgment nor analysis.
Works with all cultures because the path builds off of the resources of others to get what they desire; we are just curious guides.

Supporters: SF is uplifting for everyone involved.

Numerous studies have found SF to be just as effective in schools as commonly used, problem-focused approaches like Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.
SF is also great for counselors. For example, Joe George studied and used Choice Theory for nearly 10 years. Despite being an excellent approach, the cumulative negativity of rolling around in problems left him fried personally and professionally. SF changed all of that. Why? Nurturing hope and co-constructing plans to get what people desire changes tone and focus, promoting happiness for all parties even while knowing the same challenges.
SF chats are 3+ minutes while meetings are 10-25 minutes, allowing practitioners to see more people per day without negative returns.

Most support training programs are built by therapists for 45-60 minute sessions, and even the ones that are created for schools are designed by therapists who lack understanding of both curriculum and instruction.

This one is different.

The creator, Joe George, is …

A solution-focused practitioner, school counselor, and LPC with MAs in both Curriculum and Counseling, helping him understand both the needs of school professionals as well as how to backwards design plans to achieve successful learning.
Has 150+ hours of training in SF practice, earning certifications from two SF organizations while also doing training with two others, all of which are on different branches of the SF Family Tree; he used this knowledge to create a program that is both built upon the core SF principles and perfectly matched to the needs of schools.
Has 28 years in education and has worked in four countries with more than 60 different nationalities; the approach works everywhere.