42 ● Anita Gibbs and Kate van Heugten
● (^) Time frames are brief, and interventions focus on the achievement of
small, measurable tasks.
● (^) The framework has a behavioral or cognitive-behavioral focus, involving
the challenging of self-defeating thinking and the modeling of construc-
tive self-talk, attitudes, and language. This might also involve behavioral
modification, such as desensitization or rewarding of desired behavior.
Van Heugten (2011) has noted that such psychological interventions
should be provided by qualified practitioners.
Proponents of a task-centered framework describe a number of phases to
be implemented before work is completed (Epstein 1980; Marsh and Doel
2005; Payne 2005). A preintervention phase involves spending time with a
client, exploring and understanding the context of their problems. Next, a
series of steps is undertaken to explore and define target problems and rank
them in order of priority for action. The practitioner and client agree to
work together and then undertake goal setting, with specific statements of
tasks to achieve the identified goals. The practitioner and client then iden-
tify who will achieve which tasks and when. The next phase, problem-solving
implementation, involves actually doing the work. This may involve refining
the problems and the associated goals and tasks and reviewing the priorities.
If goals have been completely or partially met, then the termination phase
is reached. It is hoped that the client will have learned new skills, but some-
times this has not occurred, and further, negotiated task-focused work may
be necessary.
Although the task-centered framework enables action to be undertaken
right away, which can be advantageous, it has been criticized as being too
focused on individual problems, rather than connecting individuals to
their wider social, organizational, or cultural contexts. It therefore misses
opportunities to contribute to necessary contextual change or to enhance
the individual’s well-being through dealing with social issues like poverty.
In addition, because task-centered work tends to emphasize the “here and
now,” it may miss the significance of trauma from past events in a client’s life.
If Aleena and her worker determined that Aleena might be assisted with
a task-centered approach, a worker would meet with Aleena, and together
they would identify the pressing problems in her life. The problem identifi-
cation phase would be specific and would encourage Aleena to identify her
priority concerns. These would then be targeted for action. The worker and
Aleena would attempt to set specific goals, with time frames and measures of
achievement. Each goal would be broken down into a series of tasks. Once
one task had been achieved, work would begin on another task until enough