Dispatches From The Social Work Desk

Episode 8: Welcome back to the show the re-re-reboot & a Lesson on Validation & Changing Language!So it turns out that two things happened: FIRST, someone else was using my initials…two someone else's…a television show (we can't get mad at them for having that as a call sign)…but, sadly, also a hate group (BOO!). So the name got he show has been changed to The Solution Focused Podcast! I have upgraded my gear and equipment (also yay!) and I look forward to getting back to our regular production schedule!What is also interesting is that I learned a very important lesson on validation that I think will be important to remember and process for this involved in clinical settings.When I was at a Solution Center we utilized the Outcome Rating Scale created by Scott D. Miller and his team at the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE). This always lead to us being able to ask our patients about their emotions, and validating them - naturally, and without thinking about it!However, moving into a clinical setting, we don't (yet) have time to do that we each patient (scheduled back to back, and eschewing paper) so in dropping that practice, I realized I was missing a key component of my Solution Focused Work: the emotional check in and validation. This was pointed out to me by a colleague when I was covering for her, and some of her patients commented on it (she is almost entirely a DBT practitioner, so very opposite in approach, and very noticeable by her patients).The MOMENT I made a conscientious effort to bring validation as an immediate first step, before what was “What's better this week?”, as part of my regular practice, there was a noticeable change with my patients: sessions became more fluid, patients felt better (their self-report), and items on treatment plans seemed to have gotten resolved quicker, or at least had more progress noted in them. Engagement seemed to be up. This shows us, I think (admittedly without quantitative detail) qualitatively the importance of validation.Secondly is word choice: I found that “what's better this week” no longer fit with my view on trauma informed practice I changed my question to now be “what's happened since last session” and then, from there, I can guide to “have things gotten better, stayed the same, or gotten worse” through a variety of different ways.In Solution Focused Work, we believe that words make all of the difference, and in fact, the therapy happens with the words that are used in session…which is why we have to choose them so precisely.I'll put out an updated conceptual template for case noting later in the week. For now, welcome back, it's good to be back on the air!Thank you for listening. Please tune in again next Sunday (and every time in-between), as we continue forward together down our solutions focused path. Comments, constructive criticism, feedback, and questions can be sent to matt@themattschwartz.net. Yes I'm on Social Media at @TheMattSchwartz on all of the platforms you'd think to look at. I'm Matt Schwartz, and it's a pleasure to be your host.The music you're listening to in the background today is Boston Landing on “Blue Dot Sessions" generously shared through a creative commons license. Please find more of their music at www.sessions.blue, that's w-w-w- dot s-e-s-s-i-o-n-s- dot b-l-u-e. I'll see you next Sunday with more; until then, make good choices.