128 The Coaching Toolkit for Child Welfare Practice
Problem disengagement is an explicit disengagement from
problems, which is vital for full engagement in the pursuit of goals
and central to the solution-focused endeavor.
POWERS is a handy mnemonic tool for coaches to remember the
steps of the solution-focused approach (Visser & Bodien, 2003).
Coaches can adopt a solution-focused approach by asking the
following types of questions:
Coping questions are used with empathy and compassion to
acknowledge the situation the learner may be experiencing.
Scaling questions are used to rate or rank the level of importance,
motivation, or confidence in a specific situation. Scaling questions
help gauge where a situation is and how one might change that
situation.
Miracle questions are used to generate the first small steps of
P - Problems are acknowledged but not analyzed.O - Outcomes desired are specified.W - Where are you now on the scale?E - Exceptions to the problem are keys to solutions.R - Relationships are enhanced and made productive.S - Small steps forward lead to larger change.