Solution Focused Practice in End-of-Life and Grief Counseling

"Although I have been a hospice nurse for almost 19 years, I am not a counselor. However, I will be able to use some of the information I learned here to assist my patients and my colleagues with issues encountered during the difficult time when patients are dying and families are struggling with realities. I will definitely share this book with our bereavement counselors and social workers." Score: 90, 4 stars

--Doody's

"[T]his is a book about possibilities-not finalities...about all the different ways that people deal with loss and bereavement and how solution focused brief therapy can be helpful in making sense of the experience that people go through when facing death."

--Harry Korman, MD

Solution focused practice challenges the conventional approach to bereavement counseling by emphasizing solution building over simple problem-solving. Joel Simon, with over 16 years of experience in the field, demonstrates how this therapy can help clients think of possibilities, rather than limitations, when facing death or the loss of a loved one.

This book presents a general overview of solution focused practice, tools, and methodologies for practitioners. Simon also provides real-life vignettes and verbatim transcripts from actual patients in end-of-life or bereavement counseling. This book provides insight into the philosophy and practice of solution focused therapy, as applied to clients with life-limiting conditions and their loved ones.

Key topics discussed:

• 
  
• The use of language in solution focused practice: theory, meaning making, and the role of emotions
  
• Tools of solution-building, with questions, troubleshooting guidelines, and tips for evaluating outcomes
  
• The distinction between problem-solving and solution-building
  
• Co-constructing goals with clients
  
• Applying solution focused principles to hospice, grief, and bereavement practice
  

This resource serves as an invaluable tool for social workers, hospice workers, psychologists, and other bereavement and grief-counseling professionals.;

"Although I have been a hospice nurse for almost 19 years, I am not a counselor. However, I will be able to use some of the information I learned here to assist my patients and my colleagues with issues encountered during the difficult time when patients are dying and families are struggling with realities. I will definitely share this book with our bereavement counselors and social workers." Score: 90, 4 stars

--Doody's

"[T]his is a book about possibilities-not finalities...about all the different ways that people deal with loss and bereavement and how solution focused brief therapy can be helpful in making sense of the experience that people go through when facing death."

--Harry Korman, MD

Solution focused practice challenges the conventional approach to bereavement counseling by emphasizing solution building over simple problem-solving. Joel Simon, with over 16 years of experience in the field, demonstrates how this therapy can help clients think of possibilities, rather than limitations, when facing death or the loss of a loved one.

This book presents a general overview of solution focused practice, tools, and methodologies for practitioners. Simon also provides real-life vignettes and verbatim transcripts from actual patients in end-of-life or bereavement counseling. This book provides insight into the philosophy and practice of solution focused therapy, as applied to clients with life-limiting conditions and their loved ones.

Key topics discussed:

• 
  
• The use of language in solution focused practice: theory, meaning making, and the role of emotions
  
• Tools of solution-building, with questions, troubleshooting guidelines, and tips for evaluating outcomes
  
• The distinction between problem-solving and solution-building
  
• Co-constructing goals with clients
  
• Applying solution focused principles to hospice, grief, and bereavement practice
  

This resource serves as an invaluable tool for social workers, hospice workers, psychologists, and other bereavement and grief-counseling professionals.;Foreword

Preface

PART I: INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: Hospice: History and Philosophy

Chapter 2: The Historical Context of Solution Focused Practice

PART II: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF SOLUTION FOCUS

Chapter 3: Use of Language in Solution Focus

Chapter 4: Principles of Solution-Building

Chapter 5: The Tools of Solution-Building

PART III: APPLYING SOLUTION FOCUS PRACTICE TO END-OF-LIFE AND GRIEF COUNSELING

Chapter 6: Stories of Healing: SF and the Dying Patient

Chapter 7: Expect the Unexpected: Solution Focus with Widowed Client

Chapter 8: The Other Woman: Solution Focus with a Bereaved Family

Chapter 9: Changing Perspectives: Solution Focus with a Bereaving Client

Afterword: Eulogy

References

Index
;chapter

Joel Simon has 30 years of experience as a therapist and 17 years of experience as a solution-focused practitioner and trainer. In 2002, he co-founded the Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association (www.sfbta.org) and serves on their Board of Directors. He is the chair of the 2009 conference, to be held in Albany in November 2009. From 2005-2008, he was the Director of Social Work and Support Services for the Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties, where he offered SFBT training. He is author of numerous SFT articles and publications.