Van verklarings en probleme na beskrywings, innerlike sterkte en oplossings: ’n oplossinggefokusde terapeutiese model

Since 1994 the Department of Welfare has gradually moved away from the notion of social welfare to that of social development. The state department has redefined its role in social policy from caregiver to enabler, and its aim to the empowerment of individuals, families and communities. This means that the existing models of assistance, which often place a client in a dependent role, have to be revised. The strengths perspective, along with a solution-focused model, may provide an answer in this regard. This approach moves away from a focus on problems to a context in which solutions based on the strengths of the client receive attention. Instead of an analyst trying to determine and explain the causes of a problem, the therapist becomes a facilitator of the client’s own achievement of the desired empowerment.