A CANADIAN APPROACH TO CREDENTIALS:
CERTIFIED SOLUTION-FOCUSED PRACTITIONER
Ronald E. Warner
Recently the Canadian Council of Professional Certification approved a new
speciality credential, Certified Solution-Focused Practitioner (CSFP).
The CSFP credential is directed at helping professionals who have full
membership (in good standing) in a recognized provincial or federal professional
association or college.
The Canadian Council of Professional Certification (Council) was established
by Federal Charter in 1975 with a broad mandate to encourage the upgrading of
professional standards across the country. This is unique in that the Council is
the only body in Canada to be granted such a charter which authorizes it to
offer national certification to its registrants. Also noteworthy is that
professional certification is not restricted to Canadians, and although the
Council does not have reciprocity with other countries for its professional
credentials, other jurisdictions have accepted these credentials. This perhaps
explains why there is interest among a number of practitioners in the north east
of England (University of Durham) where already two therapist are expected to
complete the final CSFP requirements this March.
CERTIFIED SOLUTION-FOCUSED PRACTITIONER PROGRAM
The CSFP credential, based on the University of Toronto Faculty of Social
Work continuing education certificate program in Solution-Focused Counselling
(Warner, 2000), is intended to supplement the credentials of professionals who
already hold full memberships in good standing in a recognized provincial or
federal professional association or college. The new CSFP was designed with
sufficient flexibility that professionals could obtain the credential through a
number of different training routes without having to leave their own
province/state, or country.
The major component of the CSFP program is the requirement of 60 credit hours
of solution-focused workshop/seminars training. Considerable flexibility is
built into the content, delivery, and location of the training. A second
component of the program is a supervision requirement, which consists of a
minimum of six one hour individual supervision sessions, or equivalent time if
conducted in small group format (see below). The final component is the Clinical
Case Presentation, a 2 day seminar. The latter provides an opportunity for
practitioners to demonstrate competency in solution-focused interviewing. Prior
to attending this seminar candidates are required to complete a qualitative
self-assessment report (Warner, 2000) of a recent client interview.
Supervision Requirement
The purpose of the Supervision Requirement is to ensure that the CSFP
candidate has adequately developed and refined the clinical skills and knowledge
necessary to conduct solution-focused interviews with a variety of client
problems and situations (see Appendix). If a candidate does not demonstrate
adequate clinical skill, the supervisor may extend the supervision requirement
beyond six sessions. Candidates are required to prepare a brief report before
each supervision session, which includes responses to the following questions:
- list the major topics or themes discussed;
- describe what you learned from each session that was most important to
you;
- what task or skill have you and your supervisor decided that you will
work on improving for the next supervision session.
Supervisors are required to report on both the quality and quantity of the
candidate’s solution-building skills (see Appendix, Part II). The latter is
determined by the amount of client interview time the candidate can (generally)
stay solution-building versus problem solving. Although this quantity assessment
does have limitations and some subjectivity, the goal is for the candidate to
have sufficient clinical skill such that with most clients s/he can maintain
solution-building for the majority of the interview time.
Those candidates who have a relevant graduate degree, five years or more of
clinical experience, and the endorsement of their supervisor, will be granted
Supervisor Status upon being awarded the CSFP.
CSFP TRAINING OPTIONS
Professionals who have already taken training with well established
solution-focused specialists in the last 3 years may qualify for retroactive
credit. This will be limited to a maximum of 18 hours of CSFP credit. Additional
training programs are expected to be approved in the near future. The following
are current options for obtaining credit towards the CSFP credential:
Canada
BACKGROUND OF WRITER
Dr. Ronald Warner, psychologist and Professor Emeritus of Ryerson University,
is the Program Director of the above mentioned University of Toronto Certificate
program, Adjunct professor in the Counselling Psychology Program at OISE/University of Toronto, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of
Durham, and Examiner for the Certified Solution-Focused Practitioner offered by
the Canadian Council of Professional Certification .
Warner, R. (2000). Solution-Focused Training: Developing the Qualitative
Self-Assessment Practice Standards. European Brief Therapy Association Internet
Newsletter www:ebta.nu.
Appendix
CANADIAN COUNCIL OF PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION
1 Edenmill Drive, Toronto On., Canada M1E 4L1
Phone: 416 724 5339. Fax: 416 724 0884. E-mail: ccpc@sympatico.ca
CERTIFIED SOLUTION-FOCUSED PRACTITIONER (CSFP)
SUPERVISION REQUIREMENT FORM (Part 1)
The purpose of this Supervision Requirement is for the CSFP candidate to
develop and refine the clinical skills and knowledge necessary to conduct
solution-focused interviews with a variety of client problems and situations.
The six supervision session requirement is only a minimum, and may be extended
if the supervisor believes more time is beneficial. The candidate’s clinical
development will be assessed both by the quality of the solution-focused
interventions (the judgement of the supervisor), and the quantity time spent on
solution-building compared to problem solving during client interviews. Tape
recorded client sessions is expected to be part of the supervision process and
used in these evaluations. Candidates should review and critique their tapes
prior to the supervision session.
The interval between supervision sessions is suggested 2 to 4 weeks.
Candidates should retain at least one tape recorded client interview until they
are awarded the CSFP. Council reserves the right to request an example of the
candidate’s solution-building skills before granting the CSFP credential.
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE CANDIDATE
Name
Address:_____________________________________________
Phone:________________________________
Email
___________________________________
Supervision Report
For each of the six supervision sessions (last six if more sessions are
required), answer briefly the following questions:
- list the major topics or themes discussed
- describe what you learned from each session that was most
important/helpful to you
- what task or skill have you and your supervisor decided that you will
work on improving for the next supervision session
For sessions 2 to 6 please comment on progress made with the previous task
.
The length of commentary for each supervision
session need only be about 100 words or about a half page. Include the following
information on each supervision session:
Session Number: ____ Date:___________Length of Session: ______
Location:____________________
Candidate Signature_____________________________Supervisor
Signature_____________________
When the supervision requirement has been met, send the Supervision
Requirement Forms (Part 1 and Part 2 -supervisor may wish to send Part 2
separately) along with the CSFP Application Form to the Council.
CANADIAN COUNCIL OF PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION
1 Edenmill Drive, Toronto On. Canada M1E 4L1
Phone: 416 724 5339. Fax: 416 724 0884. E-mail: ccpc@sympatico.ca
CERTIFIED SOLUTION-FOCUSED PRACTITIONER (CSFP)
SUPERVISION REQUIREMENT FORM (Part 2)
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE SUPERVISOR
Name:_________________________________________________
E-mail________________________
Address_________________________________________________
ASSESSING SOLUTION-BUILDING SKILLS: Guidelines
You are being asked to assess solution-focused skills of the candidate in
terms of both quality as well as quantity. The latter can be determined by the
amount of client interview time the candidate can (generally) stay
solution-building versus problem solving. The candidate’s responses that acknowledge
and validate a client’s life story, emotional distress, and negative
affect, can be counted towards solution-building. If however, the candidate asks
the client to clarify, explore, or expand on his/her troubling feelings or on
the problem, these interactions and time should be considered problem solving.
Although this quantity assessment does have limitations and some subjectivity,
the goal is for the candidate to have sufficient clinical skill such that with
most clients s/he can maintain solution-building for more than 60% of the
interview time.
A) Solution-Building –Overall Quality Assessment
Considering the candidates overall ability in demonstrating the
solution-building skills (e.g., rapport and interpersonal skills, flexibility in
using appropriate interventions, understanding of the model, professionalism,
etc.) how would you rate the supervisee on the graph below? Circle the
appropriate number below.
Solution-Building Skills
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Still Acquiring Basic Skills | Almost There | Meets Expectations | Exceeds
Expectations
Comments: (if more space is required, please write on the
back or attach paper)
B) Solution-Building Skills –Quantity Assessment
Based on the best tape recorded interview presented to you, the candidate has
demonstrated solution-building (as opposed to problem solving) what percentage
of time.
Percentage: __________ (based on the graph above)
Comments:
C) Supervisor Recommendation
Based on the overall level of solution-building demonstrated in these
supervision sessions, do you recommend/ not recommend this candidate for the
CSFP professional designation?
Recommendation:
Comments:
D) Approved Supervisor Status (only applies if candidate has a relevant
graduate degree and more than five years clinical experience)
It is the Council’s intention to grant most qualified CSFP recipients
Supervisor Status. What is your recommendation in terms of readiness? Please
select one of the following categories:
 | More experience/training is required before candidate is ready________ |
| Candidate is ready now ________ |
Solution Focused Therapy