Review of Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson

Review of Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive by Barbara Fredrickson

Barbara Fredrickson, Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, and a pioneer of positive psychology, specializes in research on positive emotions and human flourishing. She is best-known for her so-called broaden-and build theory of positive emotions. This book describes in an accessible and captivating way what the research by her and her colleagues has taught her about what positivity is and what is does.

In her explanation of what positivity is, she mentions ten forms of positivity: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love. As to what positivity does, maybe it is best to start with six facts she mentions about positivity: 1) positivity feels good, 2) positivity changes how your mind works, 3) positivity transforms your future, 4) positivity puts the brakes on negativity, 5) positivity obeys a tipping point, 6) you can increase your positivity. A briefer way of describing what positivity amounts to is that it opens your mind and helps you get on a positive trajectory, an upward spiral. In other words: it makes you flourish. Flourishing is more than being happy. In Barbara Fredrickson's words: "Flourishing goes beyond happiness, or satisfaction with life. True, people who flourish are happy. But that's not the half of it. Beyond feeling good, they're also doing good -adding value to the world. People who flourish are highly engaged with their families, work, and communities."

But that is not the whole story. The effects of positivity are not simple and linear. Rather, they are subtle and non-linear. Human flourishing works like a nonlinear dynamic system. In nonlinear systems, there are one or more tipping points at which the properties of the system can suddenly change dramatically. An example of such a non-linear system with a tipping point is how ice melts at zero degrees Celsius. Consultant and researcher Marcial Losada has helped Barbara Fredrickson uncover a tipping point in the positivity ratio. The positivity ratio is the ratio of people's experiences of positive to negative emotions. Fredrickson's and Losada's research show that there is a tipping point above which flourishing starts and below which it doesn't. This positivity ratio tipping point is 3-1. When there are three times or more as many positive experiences than negative ones, flourishing will start with all of its beneficial consequences. There also turns out to be a second tipping point, by the way, of 11-1, which is the upper bound of flourishing. Above this upper bound it seems that there is too much positivity. In other words, there will always remain a useful role for some negativity. Fredrickson has found that most people have more positive than negative experiences but are below the 3-1 tipping point. Fortunately, there are many known ways to raise your positivity (many of them are described in the book) so that flourishing is attainable for anyone.

I can hardly say how impressed I am with this book. This book presents the best that positive psychology has to offer. The writing is very clear and pleasant. At the same time, everything that is being written is linked to scientific findings (which are mentioned explicitly). My suggestion is: do yourself a favor and buy yourself this book.

Also read: Flourishing

Solution-Focused Scaling Questions

© 2009, Coert Visser

Steve De Shazer, an American therapist and co-developer of the solution-focused approach, once, in the nineteen-seventies, talked with a client who came for his second session. He asked the client what was better now. The client had spontaneously replied: “I’ve almost reached 10 already!” De Shazer began to play with the idea of using numbers to describe one’s situation. This started the development of the scaling question used in solution-focused therapy (Malinen, 2001). Today, scaling questions have developed into the most well known and most frequently used solution-focused techniques. Scaling questions are relatively easy to use and extremely versatile. Nowadays, many therapists, coaches and managers use them. Even many people who know little about the solution-focused approach know the scaling question.

1. Basic steps when using the scaling question
Asking the scaling question is usually done by following a few basic steps. These basic steps consist of a series of questions which are posed in a curious and encouraging way. Below, these basic steps are explained.

The following picture (Visser, 2009) visualizes all of these steps:

2. Different types of scales
There are many ways of using scaling questions. Below are the most frequent uses of the scaling question.

1. The success scale: this is the most well-known application of the scale. On this scale 10 is the desired situation and 0 is the situation in which nothing has been accomplished yet. The success to which this scale refers can be about anything that you may find relevant such as communicating more effectively, dealing more effective with problems, producing more efficiently, working more client oriented, etcetera.

2. The motivation scale: this scale is used to discuss and strengthen the motivation the client's motivation. On this scale, the 10 may be something like: “I am prepared to do a lot to achieve the goal", and 0 may be: “I am not willing to do anything for it". It may seem a bit paradoxical but by going through the basis steps of the scaling question clients often get more grip on their own motivation. They learn to regulate their own motivation and become capable of motivating themselves. When their motivation would be low they could do things that had helped them in the past to become more motivated.

3. The confidence scale: this scale is used to discuss and strengthen the client's confidence of being able to reach the desired situation. A 10 may be: “I have much confidence of being able to accomplish this” and a 0 may be: “I have no confidence whatsoever.” Just like with the motivation scale the client learns to regulate his own confidence. This can have a strong stimulating effect. When a client has little confidence that he will be able to accomplish something it makes no sense for him to take action. Once his confidence grows the threshold is lowered to take action.

4. The independence scale: an important principle in solution-focused work is that we want to keep clients from becoming dependent on coaches. The independence scale can help to establish that. This scale is used to discuss and strengthen the clients self sufficiency. A 10 may be: “I know how I can proceed with this and I don't need help anymore” and a 0 may be: “I don't know how to proceed with this and I need help." The independence scale is often used in situation in which the client has some kind of decision problem. The advantage of this scale is that it helps to keep coachings and therapies from taking longer than strictly necessary. While the problem may not be completely solved this does not have to mean that the professional help has to continue. Often, the client is able to continue independently.

3. Using scales in groups
Scaling questions are not only useful in one-on-one conversation but also in groups. Below are two examples of the use of scales in groups.

1. Group scaling question: Below is a fragment from a team session between a solution-focused team coach (TC) and a team. The coach is asked to coach the team members (TM) a few times in order to help improve team cooperation. He uses the scaling question.

• TC: I would like to ask you whether your team, as far as you're concerned, is already exactly like you want it to be?
• All: (Laughter) No!
• TC: (Smiling) No problem! It would be the very first time for me to be in a team where everything was exactly like everyone wanted. Okay, I would like to explore where the team already is. Imagine a scale from 0 to 10 with 10 being the situation in which things will have become like you would like them and 0 being the situation in which nothing is going like you want it to go yet. Would you write down on the little post it notes where you think the team is now on that scale?

The team members write down their score on the scale and pass them on to the team coach. The team coach asks them to take a few minutes and talk with the person sitting next to them about a recent situation in the team that went well. In the meantime the team coach calculates the average score. After a few minutes the team coach starts talking again.

• TC: Thanks for your scores. I have calculated that the current score of the team is a 6. So things are not quite like you want them to be but you seem to be well on your way to that situation. How did you manage to reach that 6?
• TM 1: …. It is not that we don't work for it, you know? I mean you only have to look at they way we are all sitting here and seriously participating in this process.
• TC: Indeed, I notice that. What else has helped to reach that 6?
• TM 2: We have all reached a point at which we want to leave the problems of the past behind us and to start looking forward, you know?
• TC: that sound good, what else?
• TM 3: When it really comes down to it we take care of doing a good job as a team.

The team coach goes on asking for more examples for about ten minutes and then asks a different kind of question.

• TC: The team is now at a 6 .. Imagine that the next time we meet the team will be at a 7. What would be different in the team then?
• TM 2: We would listen better to one another. When someone says something in the team meeting he can really explain what he wants to say and he is taken seriously.
• TC: Fine, and what else?
• TM 4: We would be on time for the meeting. All of us would be on time.
• TC: I can imagine that would be good thing. What else?
• TM 1: We support each other better when we see that a colleague is really busy. We help each other out better.

The conversation continues. For an hour the coach asks all kinds of things using the scale. For example, he asks for examples of situations in which the team has already been a bit higher on the scale. Near the end of the session, he invites each team member to think for them selves about what they can do to help the team move one small step forward on the scale. When the session is over the atmosphere is positive. The team members have found the session useful and pleasant.

2. Scale walking: This is an application of the scale which you can use in small and large groups. You ask the members of the group to imagine that one side of the room represents 0 on the scale and the other side 10. Then you ask them to think what their current position is and you tell them that this current position is represented by the letter N. Then, you invite them to come and stand on an imaginary line (somewhere halfway on the scale) and you tell them to imagine that this position is N, their current position. Then, you ask them to think about how they have been able to go from 0 to N. Next, you ask them to turn around and face the other side of the room, where 10 is. You ask them to think about what they see as they watch that part of the scale. Then, you invite them to come and stand on the 10 position and to visualize for themselves what will be different here and what they will do differently themselves. After that, the group members are asked to come and stand at their current position again and to think about which small step forward they could take. You ask them to physically take a step as soon as they know which step they will take.

Scale walking has some attractive features when working with a group. The exercise is often very lively and usually creates lots of energy and enthusiasm. Also, the exercise is very flexible. You can use it in many different types of situations. For instance, you can use it when members have individual goals. But you can also use it when there is a common them so that the scale represents a group goal (for instance 'improve customer satisfaction'). In this case, using the scale leads to a situation in which all members think about steps forward to achieving that goal.

4. Several tips for using scaling questions

4.1 What to do when the client is now at a 0?
When using scales, clients will usually say that their current position on the scale is somewhere between 0 and 10. But every now and then it happens that clients say they are now at a 0. In this case it is obvious that you can not ask them how they have been able to go from 0 to their current position because their current position is a 0. Well, what can you do in such a situation? 0 is. When a client says he is now at 0 he often wants you to understand how serious his situation is. The solution-focused coach shows understanding and acknowledges what the client says. Then, the coping question can be asked, for example like this: “How do you manage to go on in these tough circumstances?" The coping question often helps people to find new energy to cope with their difficult situation. Often, this also helps to create a new angle to continue the conversation. For instance, when the client says: “I manage to go on because I don't want to disappoint my children, the coach can build on that by asking: "How would you know your children would not have to be disappointed?”

4.2 The importance of effective scale anchors
When using scales it is important to define your scale anchors, in particular the 10-position, carefully. Scales usually work best when the 10-position is defined not in too idealistic terms (the ideal future) but rather in more realistic terms (the desired situation, the situation you would be satisfied with). Being idealistic in your definition of the 10-position has two disadvantages. The first is that you can be sure that an ideal situation will never be achieved. Problem free, ideal situations don't happen. There are always problems, challenges, and tensions, they belong to life. A second disadvantage of the 10 as ideal is that it will make the client scale the current situation lower. When the 10 represents an ideal situation the client may score the current situation as a 2, while he may score a 4 or a 5 when the 10 would be defined as the situation that would be good enough. A too idealistic 10 can demotivate.

Another aspect of choosing effective scale anchors is shown in the following example. Imagine a client wants to loose 50 pounds of weight and is helped by a solution-focused coach. When the coach would define the 10 position as the situation in which the client would have achieved the goal and would have lost the 50 pounds that could demotivate. The reason is that you could be quite sure that it would be impossible to get at the 10-position anytime soon. It would be wiser to use a different way of defining 10, for instance like this: the situation in which you would be satisfied about your eating behaviors. By defining the scale like this, it is possible for the client to move quickly to the 10-position on the scale which can be very motivating. The actual weight loss can of course be monitored on a different scale, the one in your bathroom.

4.3 Playing with scales
Often it is possible and necessary to be inventive and playful when using scales if only because clients often do that too. In a team building session, a coach once used the scale walking technique. The exercise went fine and the coach noticed how the energy in the group grew while they proceeded. At a certain point, the coach invited the members to think about which step forward they could take on the scale. He asked them to physically take a step when they knew what step it was. The team members thought for a moment and then, one after the other, took a step forward. One person thought longer than the others and eventually took a step backward instead of forward. The coach was surprised for a moment and wondered if the participant was joking. But then, the coach became curious and asked: “Hey, that is interesting... You're taking a step backward... Would you care to explain that?" The participant responded with a serious look on his face: “I am very perfectionist and by taking a step backward I want to symbolize that I am going to let things loose a bit more.” The coach responded: “Sounds good!”

5. Using scales with multiple goals
Sometimes people wonder about whether scaling questions aren't too simple to be used in complex real life situations. In complex real life situations there is often a situation when there multiple goals instead of only on goal (like improving commercial skills). Moreover, often these goals are interrelated in one way or the other, or they maybe be competing with each other. An example may be the case of a company in which one group advocated the use of proactive environmental practices. For instance, they objected to the abundant use of plastic covers around certain products. Another group in this company objected to this groups saying that the focus of the company should be achieving financial goals. The tension between these two groups grew to rather unpleasant proportions when members of both groups started accusing each other of all kinds of bad intentions and behaviors. A solution-focused coach was hired to solve this matter. To everyone's surprise, the parties were again on speaking terms within one session and fully cooperating with in two brief sessions. What happened?

The first thing the coach did was to listen carefully to both parties trying to understand their goals. After that, the coach suggested a framework in which the relationship between both goals was visualized (see below).

Then, he asked them what they considered the most desired position in this matrix. They immediately agreed that C was the preferred place to be. Then, the solution-focused coach drew a scale which looked like scale on the picture on the right. Next, he asked the group whether this scale represented their goals adequately, to which all of them could agree. Then he asked then to consider this scale and discuss with each other where they saw themselves now on this scale. Then he used all the familiar parts of the scaling questions. A bit to their own surprise the group members started to agree more and more and discovered that there were some very interesting opportunities to improve both environmental and financial performance at once. For instance, they indeed started to use less plastic covers which was not only desirable from an environmental standpoint but also lowered direct costs and production time. One member called these 'low hanging fruits'. What is interesting is that, in the second session, the group became more united. The financial people showed increasing enthusiasm for the environmental goal and vice versa.

Invitation
I invite you to try out the scaling question in a conversation or team meeting. Do let me know how it went.

References

• Malinen, T. (2001). From Thinktank to New Therapy: The Process of Solution-Focused Theory and Practice Development. Ratkes 2, 2001 & Ratkes 3.
• Visser, C.F. (2009). Doen wat werkt. Oplossingsgericht werken, coachen en managen. Van Duuren Management, 2e druk.
  

Improving language, improving life

© 2008, Coert Visser

Effective use of language can be surprisingly powerful. Not only can effective language help to improve cooperation with other people, it also can help you develop a more productive outlook on life. The purpose of this article is to help you make your language more constructive and effective. Many of the suggestions in this article are based on recent findings in psychological research and on techniques which have been developed by solution-focused practitioners and researchers.

1. Improve your questions
Asking questions is an important characteristic of the solution-focused approach. Rather than telling clients how to think and what to do, a solution-focused therapist, coach or consultant asks questions which help the client develop goals and find solutions. Examples of useful questions are scaling questions (de Shazer, 1986), desired situation questions, exception seeking questions (Molnar & De Shazer, 1987), what’s better’ questions (de Shazer, 1986) and coping questions (Lipchik, 1988). Asking, rather than telling, potentially has the effect of activating the other person. This does not only work in the context of helping (like in therapy, coaching and consulting) but also in management and organizational development. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google said in an interview: “We run the company by questions, not by answers” (Caplan, 2006). Marilee Adams (2004), author of Change your questions, change your life, said: "Great results begin with great questions.

2. Improve language fitIn solution-focused coaching, an important aspect in communicating with the client is to use the language of the client. Paul Watzlawick discovered that, in helping clients, working with the concepts of the client is much more powerful that using professional jargon (Watzlawick, Weakland & Fisch, 1974). When you, as a coach, replace a word of the client by a professional term, this usually works contrarily because the client may feel correct of misunderstood. Solution-focused coaches join their clients as much as possible by using their language, both in their summaries and in their questions. This skill of solution-focused coaches is called language matching. It requires the coach to listen attentively and has several advantages. A first advantage is that the coachee notices that the coach is very attentive which helps to make him feel taken seriously. A second advantage is that the coachee notices that the coach understands and accepts what he has brought forward. This gives the coachee a feeling of security and trust. A third advantage is that language matching helps the conversation to proceed fluently. This is because the coachee does not have to correct the coach and no time is lost on discussing the precise definitions of terms. Steve de Shazer, co-developer of the solution-focused approach, was very skillful in matching his language with that of his clients. Often, in his questions, he used several words taken from the last sentence of the client.

Dutch researchers Van Baaren, Holland, Steenaert and Van Knippenberg wrote the article 'Mimicry for money: Behavioral consequences of imitation' (2003). This article provides interesting empirical support for the value of language matching. Here is a summary of the article: "Two experiments investigated the idea that mimicry leads to pro-social behavior. It was hypothesized that mimicking the verbal behavior of customers would increase the size of tips. In Experiment 1, a waitress either mimicked half her customers by literally repeating their order or did not mimic her customers. It was found that she received significantly larger tips when she mimicked her customers than when she did not. In Experiment 2, in addition to a mimicry- and non-mimicry condition, a baseline condition was included in which the average tip was assessed prior to the experiment. The results indicated that, compared to the baseline, mimicry leads to larger tips. These results demonstrate that mimicry can be advantageous for the imitator because it can make people more generous."

This sheds an interesting light on the importance of using the words of the client. An important aspect of the advantage of using the clients' words is that it helps the client to like the coach much more. It improves the relationship between the two. And this, as has been shown before, is an important factor of the effectiveness of coaching and therapy.

3. Improve language wisdom
Is there any truth to the stereotype that elderly people tend to be grumpier than young people? Do people become more negative and complain more as they grow older?

James Pennebaker and his colleagues have been doing studies in which they have tried to learn about mental health by counting the use of certain categories of words by people. Research by James Pennebaker and Lori Stone (2003) showed how the use of language develops when we get older. Do we use more or less negative terms and positive terms as we get older? Pennebaker and Stone analyzed texts of people at different ages. They counted the use of positive and negative terms. In addition to this they analyzed the extent to which people used future-tense and past-tense verbs at different ages. Did they find that people talked more in negative terms and use more past-tense verbs? On the contrary! This is what they found: "With increasing age, individuals use more positive and fewer negative affect words, use fewer self references, use more future-tense and fewer past-tense verbs, and demonstrate a general pattern of increasing cognitive complexity." Reading this, you may think that this is due to the prosperity of our modern times in which older people are better taken care of than in past centuries... but no! Pennebaker and Stone also analyzed texts by authors like Shakespeare, Eliot and Yeats that they had written at different ages. They found exactly the same conclusions: the older, the more positive and future-oriented. So, the older we get, the more solution-focused our language seems to get.... Not bad!

Dutch psychologist Sitskoorn (2008) writes more about the positivity of older people. She explains that as people grow older they usually get more skillful at positive emotion regulation. This means that, as we get older, we tend to focus more on positive information and ignore negative information (with the exception of information about threats). Because older people are, on average, better at positive emotion regulation they feel offended less easily, their negative moods last briefer, they will be less inclined to yell or call people names, they remember positive things more easily and are less impressed by negative events. Not everything gets worse with aging. Some things do get more and better.

Here is a quote from a New York Times article on the research by Pennebaker and his colleagues (Wapner, 2008): "Dr. Pennebaker, a pioneer in the field of therapeutic writing, asked a group of people recovering from serious illness or other trauma to engage in a series of writing exercises. The word tallies showed that those whose health was improving tended to decrease their use of first-person pronouns through the course of the study. Health improvements were also seen among people whose use of causal words — because, cause, effect — increased. Simply ruminating about an experience without trying to understand the causes is less likely to lead to psychological growth, he explained; the subjects who used causal words “were changing the way they were thinking about things.”

So this knowledge could be used for diagnostical purposes. But could it work the other way around, too? In other words, can we improve our mental health (and that of our students, children, etc.) by deliberately decreasing some and increasing other words in our (/their) language? Good mental health seems to be associated with a limited use of first-person pronouns, and with a relatively high use of causal words (because, cause, effect).

4. Improve your NoWe are confronted with so much information and so many suggestions and demands that we simply cannot function well without being able to say No. But saying No is hard. If we do it ineffectively, other people may feel offended or rejected or they may view your No as arrogant or uncooperative. So developing the skill of saying No constructively and gracefully is very worthwhile. William Ury, author of The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes, describes how this can be done. He presents the simple sequence of YES!-NO-YES? The first step is to root your No in an underlying yes. What is you good reason to say No now. What positive value, interest, intention is behind that No. Ury claims that if you first express your underlying yes, your No will be understood and accepted much easier. After your YES and No have been delivered, you may come up with a YES? , which is an invitation to an alternative solution.

5. Improve healing languageGreek philosopher Aeschylus once said: "Words are the physicians of a mind diseased". And this is true. Several types of language use can have downright healing effects. For instance, take the technique of normalizing. Normalizing is used to depathologize people’s concerns and present them instead as normal life difficulties. It helps people to calm down about their problem. It helps them realize they're not abnormal for having this problem. Another example of such a technique is reframing. Reframing is a technique which places what has happened or what has been said in a positive light (for instance assuming a positive intention or pointing at a positive effect). Yet another technique is mutualizing. Ziegler and Hiller (2001) give an example of mutualizing in a mediation case: "If one parent says: 'I want the child living with me full time because that's what's best for my daughter. And the other says: ''I want our daughter living with me half time and half time with you because that would be best for her.' Then I would say, 'It's pretty clear to me that both of you want to develop a plan that will be best for your daughter--you disagree at this point about what plan would be best but you share the common goal of making the best plan for her. Can we all agree about that?" Instead of emphasizing the different positions and goals the solution-focused practitioner mutualizes the preferred future.

Finally, there is the technique of Creating an expectation of positive change. Steve de Shazer (1985) claimed that change was inevitable and he more and more began to use interventions that were based on this assumption. By asking questions that implied that change was certainly going to happen, the therapist contributed to the client’s trust that the change was actually going to happen. An example of such a question is: “How will you know things will be better?’ This formulation implies that change is going to happen more than this formulation: “How would you know things would be better?” The latter formulation is more conditional, it leaves open whether the change is going to happen or not.

6. Improve your compliments
Compliments can be great tools. Complimenting can be useful. An adequate compliment provides us with the type of feedback that can help us become aware of which of our behaviors are effective. Furthermore, a compliment can make you realize that there is someone who is paying attention to you and who feels involved with what you do. This is why complimenting effectively can be useful in different contexts like parenting, education, management and co-operation. If you want to compliment, be sincere and specific and focus your compliment on something you know is important to the other person. Focus your compliment of behavior instead of on presumed fixed traits (like intelligence) of the person. Use affirmative questions so that the other person gets activated and will reflect on his or her own behavior.

More and more, it becomes clear that improving your language is an excellent way of improving the quality of your life.


References
Adams, M. (2004). Change your questions, change your life – 7 powerful tools for life and work. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, CA.

Baaren, R.B. van, Holland, R.W., Steenaert, B. & Knippenberg, A. van (2003). Mimicry for money: Behavioral consequences of imitation. Psychological Science 15 (1) , 71–74.

Caplan, J. (2006). Google’s Chief Looks Ahead. www.time.com.

de Shazer, 1986. An indirect approach to brief therapy. In S. de Shazer & R. Kral (Eds) Indirect Approaches in Therapy.

de Shazer, S. & Molnar, A. (1984) Four useful interventions in brief family therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, v10 n3 297-304.

de Shazer, S. (1985). Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy. New York, NY: W W Norton & Company.

Lipchik, E. (1988). Purposeful sequences for beginning the solution-focused interview. In: Lipchik, E. (ed) Interviewing. Aspen, Rockville.

Pennebaker, J. & Stone, L.D. (2003). Words of Wisdom: Language Use Over the Life Span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2003, Vol. 85, No. 2, 291–301

Sitzkoorn, M. (2008). Lang leven de hersenen. Uitgeverij Bert Bakker.

Ury, W. (2007). The Power of a Positive No. Save The Deal Save The Relationship and Still Say No. Bantam

Wapner, J. (2008). He Counts Your Words (Even Those Pronouns). New York Times, October 13.

Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J., & Fisch, R. (1974). Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution. New York: Norton.

Zeigler, P. & Hiller, T. (2001). Recreating Partnership: A Solution-Oriented, Collaborative Approach to Couples Therapy. W. W. Norton & Company.

How good does it get?

What should we expect?

Positive thinking seems to be back in style. Positive psychology, appreciative inquiry, solution-focused change, and positive deviance are some popular positive change approaches. These approaches tend to focus on resources and virtues that enable individuals and organizations to flourish. Positive change approaches hold a great promise. Maybe they can help us to improve our lives, our organizations and hopefully even our world. But just how positive can we expect life to become?
This may be an important question. If our expectations are too low, they can make us passive and thus prevent us from improving our circumstances. In these cases our expectations have become self-fulfilling. High expectations may be self-fulfilling too, up to a point. If they are unrealistically high, they can turn into a recipe for disillusion and frustration. Expectations play an important and sometimes paradoxical role. An example is a party. Sometimes you go a party with low expectations and you are pleasantly surprised by how much fun it turns out to be. At other times your expectations are high -this is going to be so much fun! - and it turns out rather disappointing. In these cases the contrast between what we expect and what we find seems to impact our feelings and behaviors dramatically. So, what is wise to expect about life? How good can life actually get? Is a problem-free life within our reach? Can we ever approach a total peace of mind, free of worries and fears? Can we always be feeling good about ourselves and our accomplishments and live in peace with our fellow human beings? Or is it wise to lower our expectations drastically and expect life to be one damn thing after another? Or is there a middle way? When is life good enough?

Problem induction

It is important to have valid expectations life. Some authors have claimed that popular psychology has planted some wrong expectations into people's minds. Canadian psychologist Tana Dineen has written a book called Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People. In this book she accuses mainstream psychology of creating a generation of victims by encouraging people to dwell on their "inner stresses'. Dineen claims psychologists do this on purpose to make people need therapy and thus enlarge their market. I personally don't believe at all that the majority of psychologists deliberately would do such a wicked thing. But I think to some extent they may do such an ineffective thing while having the best intentions in mind. I do believe that often psychologists and coaches encourage people to analyze and focus on their inner stresses, insecurities and so forth. Dineen is right that this defect focus often does more harm than good. It is a case of what solution-focused practitioners often call "problem induction". You did not worry much until someone gave you the idea that your situation actually is worrisome.

How important is self-esteem?

Another psychologist, Robyn Dawes, in his book House of Cards, has a more or less related criticism. He criticizes the so-called self-esteem movement. He says that many professional psychologists have promoted a simplistic philosophy of life. This philosophy maintains that the purpose of life is to maximize one's mental health, which is dependent wholly on self-esteem. The self-esteem movement argues that in order to function well you have to feel good about yourself first. Dawes debugs this claim. He explains that planting this idea into people's minds will often do more harm than good. Here is a long quote from a very interesting article by Albert Mohler making the same point:

"Since the 1969 publication of The Psychology of Self-Esteem, in which Nathaniel Branden opined that self-esteem was the single most important facet of a person, the belief that one must do whatever he can to achieve positive self-esteem has become a movement with broad societal effects. Anything potentially damaging to kids' self-esteem was axed. Competitions were frowned upon. Soccer coaches stopped counting goals and handed out trophies to everyone. Teachers threw out their red pencils. Criticism was replaced with ubiquitous, even undeserved, praise. In 2003 the Association for Psychological Science asked Dr. Roy Baumeister, then a leading proponent of self-esteem, to review this literature. His team concluded that self-esteem was polluted with flawed science. Only 200 of those 15,000 studies met their rigorous standards. After reviewing those 200 studies, Baumeister concluded that having high self-esteem didn't improve grades or career achievement. It didn't even reduce alcohol usage. And it especially did not lower violence of any sort. (Highly aggressive, violent people happen to think very highly of them selves, debunking the theory that people are aggressive to make up for low self-esteem.) At the time, Baumeister was quoted as saying that his findings were "the biggest disappointment of my career". Now he's on Dweck's side of the argument, and his work is going in a similar direction: He will soon publish an article showing that for college students on the verge of failing in class, esteem-building praise causes their grades to sink further. Baumeister has come to believe the continued appeal of self-esteem is largely tied to parents' pride in their children's achievements: It's so strong that "when they praise their kids, it's not that far from praising themselves."

The basic idea of the self-esteem movement sounded plausible but was incorrect. Trying to improve a child's functioning by first trying to make them feel good about themselves ... does not work. But is there no relationship at all between functioning and self esteem? Yes there is, but as Martin Seligman has written, the causal relationship is more likely to be the other way around. By functioning well, people are more likely to start feeling well about themselves. So, first there is functioning well, then there is self esteem, not the other way around. It may be wiser to focus on functioning well and doing good first because this will increase the probability of you feeling you deserve to feel good about yourself. It is inescapable that you will not always feel good about yourself and your circumstances. It is inherent to life that this will be the case frequently. I think it is normal and not necessarily a sign that something is fundamentally wrong. Inner conflicts and inner stresses are normal, I think, and they will keep on happening as long as you live. This reminds of a quote by American philosopher William James illustrating the inescapability on inner stresses and even their functionality:

"Nature implants contrary impulses to act on many classes of things, and leaves it to slight alterations in the conditions of the individual case to decide which impulse shall carry the day. Thus, the greediness and suspicion, curiosity and timidity, coyness and desire, bashfulness and vanity, sociability and pugnacity, seem to shoot over into each other as quickly, and to remain in as unstable equilibrium, in the higher birds and mammals as in man..."

The inevitability and usefulness of tensionsIf William James was right, contrary impulses within people are inevitable and useful. From the outside these ‘inner stresses’ are usually hard to perceive. This may explain why people may (falsely) think that other people –unlike themselves- don’t have these inner stresses. And it may explain why we are susceptible for professionals who try to convinces us that experiencing difficulties must mean we need (their) professional help. From a distance, other people may look very calm and controlled. The reality, however, is probably that they too, more or less constantly, have to deal with pressures and tensions. The same may apply to all complex systems. Let's look at a few examples. From a distance, a famous organization may appear to function very smoothly. They serve their customers, they make a good profit and they innovate. However, if we would get a chance to look from the inside, we might see all the messy processes and inner tensions and conflicts that occur within the organization. A great pop star or movie star may appear to lead a glamorous and problem-free life. However, when their biographies come out we may find out about the struggles and problems of their lives too. The same is the case with historical figures like Caesar, Alexander the Great, Beethoven and Darwin. We tend to remember the glorious ‘summaries’; of their lives. Close inspection, however, teaches us that they were more like us than we thought. They had to deal with problems and struggles constantly, like we do. From the outside, complex systems often seem stable and steady, from the inside there is equilibrium of many contrary forces. Beautiful examples in nature are the stars in the sky. From a distance we may think of a star as a glorious solid shining body in the sky. But, from up close, a star is more like a collection of very dynamic processes than a solid body. The star is the result of the balance between two oppose forces: an outward force caused by a process of nuclear fusion by which hydrogen is steadily converted into helium and an inward gravitational force. These two opposing forces create a state of equilibrium. At some point, the outward force will decline because the star will be running out of hydrogen. This is the beginning of the end of the life cycle of the star. This is an interesting perspective: the inner stresses are the essence of the ‘life’ of the star.

Back to human beings and organizations. A realistic perspective seems to be that the problem-free life, the life of constant comfort, will never exist. We should probably not let professionals of any kind convince us that experiencing problems or doubts necessarily means we need a therapist, coach or consultant. Instead, we may be wise to embrace our stresses and dissatisfactions and consciously use them to make progress.

Fluctuation and progressLife cannot do without tension and problems and Utopian circumstances will never exist. However, this ubiquity of tensions and problems does not mean that life is doomed to be miserable and tragic. Chris Peterson, author of A Primer in Positive Psychology would say this to people who claim life is doomed to be miserable: "Even if everything sucks, some things suck more than others, an irrefutable fact given how people actually behave if not what they say. We prefer some outcomes rather than others, pursue some goals rather than others, and desire some emotional states rather than others. Whether we label these preferred circumstances "positive" or "less sucky" then becomes a matter of semantics."

What Peterson points at is that many phenomena in complex systems constantly fluctuate. Sometimes things will be worse, sometimes they will be better. The interesting thing, though, is that we can add an element of gradual progress to these fluctuations. The fluctuation of share prices is a good analogy. If you look at share price fluctuation over a relatively brief period of time, you will often perceive what seems to be a rather random fluctuation. The price goes up and down and there may seem to be no overall growth. When using a wider view by looking at a longer time period, you notice that share prices of and index on average usually steadily grow over time. This element of progress seems to be crucial for finding meaning and gratification in life.

Is happiness relevant and attainable at all?

Total peace of mind will never exist for anybody and tensions and problems are inevitable. Progress is crucial for finding a certain degree of happiness in life. Before exploring this further, there this question needs to be answered: given that problems and tensions will always be there, is happiness a real and relevant concept at all? Robert H. Frank, professor of Economics at Cornell University addresses this question in his new book Falling Behind, How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle Class. He explains that, while many economists have remained skeptical about happiness research, happiness is indeed a real and relevant concept. It exists and it is important to people. Most of the criticisms about happiness research are aimed at one of the primary lines of happiness research: surveys. In these surveys, people are asked to classify themselves into one of three categories: very happy, fairly happy, not happy. According to Frank, some arguments for taking these measures seriously are:

1. People differ in there responses to these questions,
2. People are remarkably consistent in their answers to these questions,
3. The answers to these questions correspond closely with responses to other types of questions assumed to be associated with happiness,
4. The happiness survey responses also correspond consistently with specific distinguishable brain wave patterns,
5. They also correspond with certain social behaviors assumed to be associated with happiness (like initiating contacts with friends, helping people, etc),
6. They also correspond with signs of physical and mental health.

Happiness exists. People differ in the extent to which they have it. People value it. It would be worthwhile to figure out a way to build it. What can we do individually? What can we do collectively?

The unexpected role of adaptationIf you think that buying a luxurious car or having more money will structurally increase your happiness, please reconsider. Economist Dick Easterlin has shown that this will probably not happen. His research has shown that 1) after some time people will not say that they have become happier (you get used to your possession and it no longer brings you extra satisfaction), 2) often, however, they will keep on thinking that the next desired object (a boat?) will succeed in making them happy. But it won't, because the same thing will happen: they will get used to that, too. Will a higher income lead to more happiness? Not necessarily. One reason for this, as research by Easterlin has shown, is that the positive effect of having more money is 'deflated' by the fact that peoples perceived needs have increased correspondingly. The reverse thing can happen too. People can adapt to many tragic life events too and gradually get back to their earlier level of happiness. (This adaptation is not always complete, by the way; maybe more about that later).

Robert H. Frank has also written much about adaptation and well-being. Frank explains that the main reason we buy luxury goods is to demonstrate to others that we can afford to, thereby trying to distinguish ourselves from them. In doing so, we try to achieve happiness by improving our relative status. The irony is, however, this doesn't work. The satisfaction we get from luxury spending, which Frank calls conspicuous spending, depends largely on context. The satisfaction we get from luxury spending lasts only briefly. Two examples: 1) If we buy an expensive car, this distinguishes us from our neighbor and we feel happy. If, however, next month our neighbor buys an even fancier one, our satisfaction will be largely gone. You can see how this leads to an escalation, an arms race, with no winners. 2) The satisfaction we get from luxury goods tends to decline steeply over time. We tend to get used quickly to what we have and the favorable features of the luxury good tend to fade into the background rapidly: we no longer notice the fancy features of our expensive car and our satisfaction diminishes. Bottom line: this increasing conspicuous spending does more harm than good.

Is the growth mindset applicable to happiness?Most psychologists assume that the extent to which happiness is developable is limited. They think there is a so-called set point. This is a biologically determined range within which your happiness would move. Many laypeople also seem reluctant in the achievability or developability of happiness. Brad Pitt, the movie star once remarked in response to the question whether he was happy: “I don't believe in happiness.” Now, the thinking about happiness seems to shift among experts. Ed Diener, a well-known happiness expert says: “Set-point is not destiny. In fact, happiness probably is really about work and striving. Happiness is the process, not the place. So many of us think that when we get everything just right, and obtain certain goals and circumstances, everything will be in place and we will be happy…. But once we get everything in place, we still need new goals and activities. The Princess could not just stop when she got the Prince.”

Carol Dweck's concept of the growth mindset might be useful here. Then, the question was whether intelligence is developable. Dweck shows that people who see intelligence as unchangeable develop a tendency to focus on proving that they have that characteristic instead of focusing on the process of learning. This disregard of the learning process hinders them in the development of their learning and in their performance. This means that the wrong convictions about intelligence can make smart people dumb! But there is hope: when people view intelligence as a potential that can be developed this leads to the tendency to put effort into learning and performing and into developing strategies that enhance learning and long term accomplishments. An implication is that it pays off to help children and students invest in a view of intelligence as something that can be developed.

Is the growth mindset also applicable to happiness? It seems worth a try.

Some solution-focused suggestions
The solution-focused approach might give you some hints about what you could do:

1. Think about how you would like your life to become
2. Be realistic: life will never be perfect but it can become good enough
3. Always focus on achieving small goals in the near future
4. Focus on progress
5. Be aware of fluctuations
6. Focus on what works for you

Learning to compliment effectively

© 2008, Coert Visser

1. Advocates and skeptics of complimenting

Complimenting is attractive for many people. Most people prefer to and view it as more constructive to say something positive than to say something negative. After all, who does not want to be appreciated for what he does? Although everybody makes mistakes now and then, most people mean well, don't they? This way of reasoning is surely plausible which may explain why I frequently hear people saying that is good and important to compliment frequently. They claim that this is the best way to motivate people. It is correct that complimenting can be useful. An adequate compliment provides us with the type of feedback that can help us become aware of which of our behaviors are effective. Furthermore, a compliment can make you realize that there is someone who is paying attention to you and who feels involved with what you do. This is why complimenting effectively can be useful in different contexts like parenting, education, management and co-operation.

But is complimenting really always so pleasant and motivating? There are also people who are skeptical about the use and value of complimenting. Some say that they often see compliments as insincere and exaggerated as if it were some kind of trick. Others say they often get suspicious when they are complimented ("What does he want from me?"). Still others say they don't like to be complimented because it gives them the impression that the other person looks down on them (“Who does he think he is to judge me?).

What's the deal with compliments? Are the advocates right or the skeptics? My answer is that both the advocates and the skeptics are right. Complimenting can be valuable but only in certain circumstances and when done skilfully. In those cases the advantages can be achieved while negative side effects can be prevented. Below I will first explain some negative consequences which can occur when complimenting is done ineffectively. Then I will give some practical suggestions for complimenting effectively.

2. Possible disadvantageous effects of compliments

Alfie Kohn once wrote the remarkable book Punished by Rewards (Kohn, 1993). In this book, the author shows that using rewards to get something done from people is often ineffective and even harmful. One chapter of this book is dedicated completely to what Kohn calls: The praise problem. He sums up ways in which praising people can be detrimental to people's performance.

One example of damage cause by compliments can occur when you compliment someone for having accomplished a simple task. This can give this person the feeling that little is expected of him or her ("apparently this is all that is expected of me...."). As a second example Kohn explains how complimenting can lead to less persistence and concentration. He speaks of praise paralysis with which he means that telling someone how good he is can lead to stress and performance anxiety. A next example of the negative effects of praise is that it can make the praised person risk aversive. The last example Kohn mentions is that compliments of undermines the intrinsic motivation which inspires people do their best.

A special situation in which compliments can do harm is described by Geoffrey Cohen and Claude Steel (2002). These American researchers describe how teachers teaching students from minority groups sometimes overpraise these students. Teachers who fear there are viewed as prejudiced may respond by avoiding to give any critical feedback and only giving praise, even when the performance of the student is low. This response undermines student learning because they miss important critical feedback (which they could have used to their advantage) and the praise for low performance may send the message that little more is expected from that particular student. Further, overpraise may be viewed as patronizing and even insulting.

3. Process compliments work better that trait compliments

In the book Improving Academic Achievement the American researcher Carol Dweck has written a chapter titles Messages that motivate. In this chapter she explains the importance of beliefs about intelligence. Carol Dweck describes two mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Children who hold a fixed mindset see intelligence as a more or less fixed trait: you have a certain amount and there is not much you can do to change it. Children who hold a growth mindset see intelligence as developable. They view achievement mainly as a matter of effort. Carol Dweck has shown convincingly through many elegant experiments that which mindset you hold, has a dramatic impact on achievement. The table below summarizes the differences between the fixed and the growth mindset:

Clearly, the growth mindset is more attractive in many ways. The chapter gets even more interesting when Dweck goes on to a practical level. How can educators and parents help children develop a growth mindset? In particular, what is the role of praise? Two forms of praise are compared: process praise and trait praise. With process praise you compliment the child with his or her effort or strategy ("You must have worked hard", or: "You must have used a good strategy to solve this"). With trait praise you compliment the child for a trait, some kind of fixed internal quality ("You have done well, you must be very smart."). The table below shows the different impacts these two styles of praising children have.

4. Practical tips for complimenting effectively

The research by Carol Dweck shows that complimenting about trait can have harmful consequences. These don't occur with process compliments. Alfie Kohn (1993) provides four practical suggestions that fit well with Dweck's findings and that limit possible damaging effects of praise:

1. Don't praise people, only, what they do
2. Make praise as specific as possible
3. Avoid phony praise
4. Avoid praise that sets up competition

From the solution-focused approach some additional suggestions can be deduced:

1. Compliment only on things which are important to the other person. When using the solution-focused approach you don't just compliment about everything. Compliments have a specific function. They are pointers to solutions (Jackson and McKergow, 2002). Any compliments you make are focused on behaviors which seem to be related to progress in the direction of the desired situation.
2. Use the ABC of compliments (source: http://www.gingerich.net/). A- Accurate: The compliment has to accurately refer to what has happened and what the person has done. B – Believable: The compliment should not be an exaggeration but realistic. C – Constructive: The compliment should refer to what the person wants to achieve and be useful for making progress.
3. Compliment with questions. Instead of complimenting directly (for example: “Well done!") you can also compliment indirectly. This means that you invite the other through a question to describe what was good about what he or she has done and what has worked well. An example of an indirect compliment is: “Wow, how did you manage to finish that task so quickly?"). I like to call such kinds of questions affirmative questions. It is also possible to include the perspective of other people in compliments. An example may be: “What do your colleagues appreciate in how you work?” An advantage of complimenting through questions is that you activate the other person. Also, there is less chance that he or she will feel embarrassed or will turn down the compliment ("It was nothing special"). Instead you challenge the other person and make him or her reflect (“Actually, how did I do that.... let's see.....?”).

5. Summary and invitation
A brief summary of the suggestions provided here is: if you want to compliment be sincere and specific and focus your compliment on something you know is important to the other person. Focus your compliment of behavior instead of on presumed fixed traits (like intelligence) of the person. Use affirmative questions so that the other person gets activated and will reflect on his or her own behavior.

My invitation is to try these suggestions. You are welcome to share your experiences.

References

1. Cohen, G. L., & Steele, C. M. (2002). A barrier of mistrust: How negative stereotypes affect cross-race mentoring. In J. Aronson (Ed.), Improving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education (pp. 303-328). San Diego: Academic Press.
2. Dweck, C. (2002). Messages that motivate: How praise molds students’ beliefs, motivation, and performance (in surprising ways). In Aronson, J. (Ed.), Improving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education (pp. 37-60). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
3. Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset, the new psychology of success. Random House.
4. Kohn, A. 1993. Punished by Rewards: the Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's. Praise and Other Bribe. s. New York: Houghton Mifflin
5. Jackson, P.& McKergow, M. (2002). The Solutions Focus, the SIMPLE way to positive change. Nicolas Brealy Publishing

The Origin of the Solution-Focused Approach

The Origin of the Solution-Focused Approach
Coert F. Visser

Abstract: The solution-focused approach to therapy and coaching has its roots in the work done by therapists in the second half of the twentieth century. This article discusses some important precursors, such as Milton Erickson and the Mental Research Institute. Further, it shows how the members of the Brief Family Therapy Center, led by Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer, developed the core of the solution-focused approach in the 1980s. Key concepts and publications are discussed and a description is given of how the team members worked together closely to find out what works in therapy.

Keywords solution-focused, BFTC, solution-focused history, de Shazer, Berg

Download full text (pdf)

The Support Group Approach - Interview with Sue Young

© 2008, Coert Visser & Sue Young

Sue Young now divides her time between behaviour support to schools and training in solution focused practice. She advocates using solution-focused thinking to encourage success at every level in schools. Her initiatives include implementing national policies across schools, helping local staff encourage positive behaviours in their students and giving support to individual children and parents. One of Sue’s particular interests is promoting an anti-bullying ethos. In the mid-ninties, she developed the support group approach for responding to incidents of bullying. Later she discovered how well her approach fitted with solution focused thinking and ever since, has been applying solution focused principles to all areas of her work. So, what is the support group approach and how does it work? Is it hard to do? How does it help? Find answers to these questions and more in this interview.

COERT: Hi Sue, could you explain, for readers who haven't heard about it yet, what the support group approach is?

SUE: Briefly, the support group approach is a solution focused strategy for resolving complaints of bullying, particularly in primary schools. I think it is a good example of a ‘solution key’ (de Shazer) because the simplicity of the intervention enables it to fit a wide range of circumstances. The child who is upset is interviewed to find out who they are finding difficult to cope with at the moment, who else is around when they find things difficult and who is (are) their friend(s). They are not asked for any information about what has been happening. The child is reassured that things will begin to get better and told that a group of children, chosen from the names they have given, will be asked to help. The child is asked to notice anything that gets better so they can tell you about it when you review after a week. A support group is made up from these names, ideally 5-8 children. The group is seen separately and simply asked to help with the aim of making the target child happy in school. No explanation is given about why the child may be unhappy. It is important that whoever leads the interviewing does not use the word ‘bullying’ at all and tries to leave behind any judgement about what has been happening. They are asked for suggestions of small things they might try and an arrangement is made to review what they have managed to do a week later.

COERT: Okay, and what happens one week later in the review meetings with the bullied child and in the meeting with the support group?

SUE: In the review meeting the target child is asked about things that are better and is praised for how they have handled the situation. In the group’s meeting that follows, the children are asked how they think things are going and each one is given the chance to report back on what they have managed to do. They are thanked individually for the help they have given and then congratulated for their success as a group. A further review can be arranged in another week's time, if necessary. Sometimes there needs to be more than one review to ensure that any teasing or bullying that is happening, typically by someone outside the group, stops completely but it is rare for it to go as far as five meetings. The criterion for finishing the group is that everyone is agreed that the child is now happy in school: the target child, the members of the group, staff involved at school and the parents.

COERT: I understand how it works. What do you see as the main characteristics and advantages of this approach in comparison to other anti-bullying approaches?

SUE: It is unnecessary for a child to repeat over what has been happening, with the disadvantage of re-traumatising and demoralising a child who is often already feeling powerless and anxious about telling anyone about how they are feeling, plus talking it over may actually reinforce those feelings. It also feels less ‘risky’ for the child when they don’t have to ‘tell tales’ on anyone. Most other approaches presume that bullying has been happening, although in practice this can be difficult to be certain about, since bullying generally takes place outside the view of adults. Other children who know it's happening very seldom report it, and anyone accused of bullying tends to deny it. So ‘proving’ it can be very difficult. Thankfully proving it doesn’t matter with this approach, since no assumptions need to be made about what’s going on. None of the children are labelled by it – ‘bully’, ‘victim’ - whilst at the same time the opportunity is open to them to make amends, if they want to. That applies sometimes, surprisingly maybe, to the target child, too.

COERT: And what is different in the way parents are involved?

SUE: If a parent has made a complaint, they get regular updates at the reviews on how things are going and are involved in evaluating progress. This is reassuring for them at a very difficult time. Often in traditional strategies they get left out, don’t get feedback, and this can exacerbate the difficulties. They can even end up being blamed for being ‘over-protective’. There’s no need to tell other children’s parents that their child has been accused of being a bully – resulting difficulties between parents can become more problematic than the original complaint. On the contrary, parents can be told how helpful and kind their child has been. Parents get to know when their school deals with bullying effectively – and they value it highly because it is something that a lot of parents fear happening to their child.

COERT: How do children typically respond to the Support group approach?

SUE: The children enjoy it – we have interviewed children who have been in support groups and they say things like: I enjoyed doing it, I made more friends too, it made me feel important, it made me feel happier. It teaches children a more helpful way of responding to others and feeling good about themselves. Over the longer term, this can affect the whole ethos of a school. Some other approaches, e.g. assertiveness training, implicitly blame the ‘victim’. However, if you stop the bullying, assertiveness or low self esteem etc. are no longer a problem - and it's easier and quicker this way to stop the bullying.

COERT: This all sounds simple and attractive. What can you tell me about the effectiveness of the approach? Have you done some research for instance or have you otherwise gotten systematic feedback?

SUE: This approach has been subject to rigorous review of a large number of actual cases in terms of outcomes – we know it works, whereas with most other strategies there has been no evaluation based on outcomes (other than solution focused brief therapy, which we have also evaluated). It’s fast acting… and it is maintained longer term. Other approaches tend to rely on the assumed efficacy of the process e.g. traditional counselling, phone help lines, punishment of offenders etc. or anecdotal accounts of a few cases. In an article I wrote at the time (read it here), I describe two types of research: outcome based evaluation and process based. Firstly, and most importantly, evaluation based on the outcomes: in the first 50 support groups that I led, there was immediate success in 80% (40) of those cases, then it tapers off - 7 cases took up to 5 meetings before everyone was satisfied that the child was happy in school and there was no bullying, I called that 'delayed success'. In 3 cases (6%), although there was improvement, I was not completely satisfied, I called that limited success. Importantly, no case got worse. What is interesting, by the way, is that when the group was led by staff from within school, the outcomes seem to be even better - higher than 80% and fewer meetings on average!

Although this research was done about ten years ago now, I still haven't come across any other study of an intervention for bullying that is as transparent in outcomes or as successful as this, over a large number of cases (other than the one I mentioned on SFBT earlier, that Gail Holdorf and I did). I am both proud of this article for that reason, but also frustrated. All the research that has been done into bullying - 'admiring the problem'! - but so little done into what works in individual cases to stop it.

COERT: Can you give an example of an experience of teacher who has used the Support Group Approach?

SUE: In terms of independent corroboration, I trained a teaching assistant to lead support groups in a primary school that had particular difficulties. She kept excellent records which she allowed me to look through later. Her records showed that she also had led over 50 groups and all had been effective. However, she always continued group meetings for about 5 sessions – even when her records showed there was no problem - I think she just enjoyed doing it! At this school they called them ‘Friendly Groups’. I referred to her work in my chapter in Solutions in Schools – but she wouldn’t let me put in her name! Other than this, I’ve had loads of feedback from individuals who have used it and been delighted. Of course, anyone who didn’t have success is unlikely to feed back. Nevertheless, so many people have tried it successfully, and at the first attempt, I’m certain that it is a very robust strategy.

COERT: You mentioned process research. Could you explain that?

SUE: Sure, I did research into the processes happening in the support group, the theories in social psychology about how groups work and the behaviour of bystanders. I was looking for the rational for why it worked so well, and so quickly. Whilst researching on this, I came across 'solution focused brief therapy'. It seemed to me that how I was doing support groups was a good example of solution focused work, although not therapy. More recently, I have done some research on what children who have been in support groups think about it – I made a couple of videos interviewing them. We took two of these children to the EBTA (European Brief Therapy Association) conference in Krakow and they took part in our workshop there. They were great! It seems obvious to them, if someone is unhappy in school you ask other children to help… of course it works…. of course they enjoy it…. what’s so hard to understand about that...?!

COERT: Sounds logical, indeed. Do you have any experiences with or thoughts on situation in which aggression and physical violence are involved? Would you recommend using the Support Group Approach in the same manner or should additional or different things be done?

SUE: I have used a support group where children have had bruises, black eyes or been kicked etc. and in long term cases where bullying appears to have been a problem for more than a year, maybe at successive schools. However, I recommend using support groups in primary schools – and children don’t generally do very serious harm at that age. I have never had a case in a primary school when I felt unable to recommend it. Although I have led support groups in secondary schools successfully, and I know others have, I would not recommend it universally for any situation. For example, one case I remember was of a teenage girl where there had been a sexual assault by two or three boys – I would not have felt comfortable leading a support group including those boys. (I’m not sure I would call this bullying, although on the news here recently a murder of a schoolboy was called ‘bullying’.) With anything so serious, the police would normally be involved and I would not want to interfere with any investigation. Generally, the student(s) would be suspended from attending school whilst this was going on, anyway. In serious cases in secondary schools, I would use solution focused brief therapy to support the ‘victim’, if that was wanted. I wrote an article with Gail Holdorf on the success of using SFBT, mainly with older students (read it here). There are other reasons why a support group may not be appropriate in secondary school, too - e.g. the student may not want anyone else involved at all and we would respect that.

It is interesting that the anti-bullying project very rarely had referrals of ‘bullies’ – almost all referrals were of perceived ‘victims’. Now I work part time for a behaviour support service, I get referrals of students for ‘anger management’, maybe violent outbursts, and bullying others may occasionally be mentioned. I deal with these individual cases using SFBT too – so I work with them individually on ‘staying calm’ or ‘getting on with work’ or ‘staying in school’ (i.e. not getting excluded) - whatever they identify they want to change. This is not as successful in terms of outcomes as I would like, although still far better than other approaches I have used in the past. It can be hard to get any progress noticed, or recognised as significant, by other staff. Generally, I find working in a solution focused way directly with teachers and other school staff to be more successful in terms of outcomes for children with serious behaviour difficulties.

COERT: As a last question I’d like to ask: what practical suggestions do you have for teachers reading who want to try this out?

SUE: It doesn’t need a lot of training or particular expertise – just a willingness to have a go with something different – so it’s accessible to school staff. I think it would be very helpful to read a case study – there’s one in Interviewing for Solutions and another in my chapter in Solutions in Schools, mentioned before. I am hoping to have a new book out soon – my old one, Solutions to Bullying, is out of print. Anyone leading the group needs to remember the suggestions for making the child happy in school should all come from the group - and resist the temptation to give them any other information or advice. When people have watched me leading a group in a school, as they usually did, they have said that the most surprising thing is that I don’t talk about bullying at all – either with the ‘victim’ or the group. And all the staff I know who have done it, love it! Staff and children learn the effectiveness of becoming solution focused. I would suggest just following the guidelines and keep it simple!

The most encouraging thing is that when used well, solution focused support groups contribute to an atmosphere in school where bullying is less likely to happen in the first place.

References

1. Y. & Rees, I. (2001). Solutions in Schools: Creative Applications of Solution Focused Brief Thinking with Young People and Adults. London: BT Press
2. De Jong P. & Berg I.K. (2008). Interviewing for solutions, 3d ed..Brooks/Cole.
3. Young, S. (1998). The Support Group Approach to Bullying in Schools. Educational Psychology in Practice Vol 14, No 1, April 1998
4. Young, S. & Holdorf, G. (2003). Using solution focused brief therapy in individual referrals for bullying. Educational Psychology in Practice, 19(4), 271-282.
5. Young, S. (2002). Solutions to Bullying. NASEN.