ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 discusses strategies to build a hopeful, positive start. Crisis is often a time ripe for engaging a client, so assessment report writers have a critical role to play in how they discuss the problem and offer hope. Even when the situation is such that the client is not ready to benefit from exceptions and solutions, there are opportunities to set the stage for the client to look to the future with optimism and energy by “building on what works a little bit.” Therapists need to listen closely and hear more than the exceptions. Clients often give clues about the process or tasks that can lead to possible solutions. Sometimes a client can benefit from an idea or task not directly related to the problem. When an intervention is not working for the client, it is valuable feedback for us, and we need to immediately change course. Too many clients are repeatedly subjected to the same interventions that do not work, or that only partially work for them. Sadly, they will leave therapy either feeling like failures, hopeless and defeated, and/or thinking that therapy does not work.
