Center for Strength-Based Strategies

The CSBS welcomes you! Our goal is to increase a Strengths approach across all of the helping professions for work with individuals and families. We believe that when a person’s strengths, assets and resources are balanced with their faults and failures, then a more accurate view of the person is realized—a view that is truly helpful to all who are concerned with increasing a healthy life.

Our vision is to help the Strengths model become the standard for all helping efforts. Our Center champions direct practice, the one-to-one venue in which the helper and person meet. There have been decades of attention to how people “fall down” and plumbing the depths of troubles. We now advocate for the science of “getting up” and how the troubled surmount their difficulties.

Our focus is on the techniques and strategies, the "how to's" that helpers can use to raise motivation levels. We seek to advance techniques and strategies--paying special attention to applied methods.

How can organizations (staff, management, structure, policies and programs) help a Strengths approach to take root and thrive? Our Center provides technical assistance to diverse professional groups—those who work with voluntary clients and especially those clients mandated to accept services by our courts and justice system. Although our Center is based in the United States, we have worked with and shared with helpers and helping organizations from around the world and invite all to gain a global perspective.

___________________________________________________________________

Michael will deliver the keynote address at two upcoming conferences in 2009:

Coping & Resilience International Conference - Dubrovnik 2009 -- October 3-6, 2009, Dubrovnik-Cavtat, Croatia. Conference Keynote Address - “Strength-Based Interventions: Moving from High-Risk to High-Yield” www.resilience2009.org

US Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) - August 26, 2009 Conference Keynote Address – “Motivational Interviewing & Prison Services: How Facilities are Implementing a ‘Culture of Motivation’”

Website updates – July 2009

· Updates to the “Training Schedule” Section for the 2nd half of 2009

· New efforts to aid organizational readiness to for Motivational Interviewing (MI) and keeping MI enduring. Motivational Interviewing Coaching and Motivational Interviewing Coding.

· Two new articles published and one "In Press" article for late 2009 publication (see below)

· Extensive delivery of Motivational Interviewing Train-the-Trainer initiatives with both Motivational Interviewing Coaching and Coding of Audio Tapes for Quality Assurance (see below)

_________________________________________________________

Two new articles published in 2009 - One "In Press" for late 2009

(2009) Clark, Michael D., The Strengths Perspective in Criminal Justice. In D. Saleebey (ed.) Fifth Edition (2009). The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice.. New York: Longman

Download this at

(Summer 2008) Clark, Michael D., “Moving From Compliance To Behavior Change: Motivational Interviewing and the Juvenile Court.” Juvenile and Family Justice Today, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Vol. 17 (3), 22-23.

Contact our Center for a PDF copy of these two articles

(In Press) Clark, Michael D., "Will a Strengths Perspective Work in Juvenile Justice?"

Special Issue of the Journal of Reclaiming Children and Youth. Expected Publication Date: Summer/Fall 2009

This article will be available on our website after publication

We’ve done extensive work in developing and delivering

Motivational Interviewing Train-the-Trainer

initiatives over the last two years.

Here is a partial listing of clients that the Center for Strength-Based Strategies is currently -- or has facilitated -- train-the-trainer initiatives in Motivational Interviewing:

· Los Angeles County Probation (Juvenile Probation & Facilities)

· Wyoming Department of Corrections

· Hawaii District - Federal Probation and Pretrial Services

· State of Nebraska – Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center – Kearney, NE

· South Central Behavioral Health Services – Kearney/Hastings, Nebraska

· Mid-Plains Center for Behavioral Healthcare Services – Grand Island, NE

· Utah Department of Corrections

· Montgomery County Juvenile Court – Dayton, Ohio

· Montgomery County Adult Community Corrections – Dayton, Ohio

· Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards

· Brazoria County – Texas, Community Corrections Department

· Bay-Arenac Community Mental Health, Bay City, Michigan

· Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole

● Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections

● Nueces County Community Corrections – Corpus Christi, Texas

● Texas Dep't of Criminal Justice – Community Justice Assistance Division

● Starr Commonwealth – Adolescent Residential / Community Programming

______________________________________________________________________

Our website offers numerous publications for downloading. They describe Strengths work with both adolescents and adults and almost all focus on working with challening clients or mandated (court-involved) populations.

Many are journal articles, such as these two publications:

(Summer 2006) Clark, et al., “Importance, Confidence and Readiness to Change: Motivational Interviewing for Probation and Parole.” Perspectives. Journal of the American Probation & Parole Association. Vol. 30 (3). 36-45. [Part Two of Two Part Series] Click here to download the full article

(June 1998) "Strength-Based Practice: The ABC's of Working With Adolescents Who Don't Want To Work With You" Federal Probation Quarterly, (62)1, 46-53. Click here to download the full article

** NOTE:

Mr. CLARK HAS RECENTLY BEEN NAMED AN "EXEMPLARY FORENSIC SOCIAL WORKER." AN EXCERPT FROM A NEW (2007) BOOK CHAPTER HAS BEEN ADDED TO OUR "NEWS & UPDATE" SECTION.

Some speak to our mission of offering "how to's" for direct practice.

Here are several "Tips & Techniques" for direct service that can be applied to a wide-range of populations and problems

(September, 1999) “Strength-Based Practice: Tips and Techniques for Line Staff & Managers” Triad Communicator. Vol. 1(2). 14-15. Click here to download the full article

(Fall 2000) “Tips, Research and Techniques for Direct Practice” Juvenile Justice Training Notes Journal of the Juvenile Justice Trainers Association. Vol. 11(3). 4. Click here to download the full article

(Spring, 2002) “Tips for Direct Service Practitioners: Practice Principles That Build Partnerships for Juvenile Court Work.” Juvenile Justice Training Notes Journal of the Juvenile Justice Trainers Association. Vol. 13(1). 7-8. Click here to download the full article

(2005) “Clark’s Corner: Examining Client Perceptions—Techniques to Achieve Positive Change” Inside Justice: A National Perspective on Juvenile Justice. Vol. 4(1). 6-7. Click here to download the full article

For information on training workshops and technical assistance, please click on the “Contact Us” section.

*Thanks for checking back! There are now over 25 articles on our website ready for downloading. Click on the buttons in the “Summaries & Resources” section to review these publications.