Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Toolkit for Schools

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Toolkit for Schools: Creative and Group Strategies is a hands-on guide designed for school social workers who want to apply solution-focused skills in real, day-to-day school contexts. It demonstrates effective practice with ready-to-use tools, group activities, and creative interventions-all grounded in real-life school-based scenarios and largely inspired by the work of school social workers and teachers. Whether you are running a student group, supporting an individual student in crisis, or training other clinicians and educators in solution-focused practices, this book provides practical and straightforward descriptions of SFBT principles and strategies that you can begin using immediately.
Inside, you will find creative exercises to engage students in goal-setting, reflection, and growth; language strategies to help students subtly shift into a creative, solution-building perspective; adaptable group strategies for goal-setting, identifying strengths, and working in groups; real-world case studies that show how SFBT works in diverse school settings; and brief intervention tools for quick, strengths-based conversations.
Created for social workers new to solution-focused work as well as those looking to deepen their practice, this book is go-to resource for making the approach practical, student-centered, and effective-right where it matters most.

Joy Blythe is a Solution-Focused Educator at Garza Independence High School (Austin, Texas).
Matt J. Riley is a research author and a crisis co-responder therapist in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Cynthia Franklin holds the prestigious Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professorship at the University of Texas at Austin, School of Social Work.