How Do Child Protection Workers and Teams Change During Solution-Focused Supervision and Training? A Brief Qualitative Report

Abstract

This paper presents qualitative data on 120 child protection workers in the island of Tenerife, Spain, who participated in solution-focused training and supervision. After 30 hours of training in solution-focused therapy, the workers’ goals and progress during another 30 hours of supervision were recorded on a variation of the “circles of change” technique (Huibers & Visser, 2005). Throughout the process, the majority of the workers’ goals were accomplished, and participants described many changes across three different dimensions: (a) In their direct interaction with families, they started to work in a less paternalistic and more cooperative way, focusing more on shared goals and family resources; (b) within the protection teams, the team mood and atmosphere improved; closer personal bonds developed and more horizontal and transdisciplinary relationships were established; and (c) in the interaction with other workers from larger professional helping systems, coordination and referrals started to focus more on the users’ strengths and goals.