This hands-on resource provides clear, practical guidance for supportive service professionals working in a home-based environment. Drawing on best practices from a range of disciplines, this book provides a clear map for dealing with the complex and often ambiguous situations that arise with individuals and families, with applications extending to supervision and organizational change. Readers gain the advice and insight of real-world frontline helpers, as well as those who receive care, highlighting new ways to approach the work and re-think previous conceptualizations of problems and strengths. Helping efforts are organized around a shared, forward-thinking vision that anticipates obstacles and draws on existing and potential supports in developing a collaborative plan of action.

The book begins with stories that illustrate core concepts and context, presenting a number of useful ideas that can reorient behavioral services while outlining a principle-based practice framework to help workers stay grounded and focused. Problems are addressed, and strength-based work is expanded into richer conversations about strengths in the context of intention and purpose, value and belief, hopes, dreams, and commitments. Topics include:

• Contextual guidance with helping maps
• Engaging people and re-thinking problems and strengths
• Dilemmas in home and community services
• Sustainable helping through collaboration and support

A strong collaboration between natural networks, communities, and trained professionals across systems creates an effective helping endeavor. Ensuring sustainability may involve promoting systems change, and building institutional supports for specific supervisory, management, and organizational practices. Collaborative Helping provides a framework for organizing these efforts into a coherent whole, serving the needs of supportive services workers across sectors.

CHAPTER 1 HELPING: WHAT, HOW AND WHY

Introduction

Walking and Talking

Helping Activities - The What of Helping

Relational Connection - The How of Helping

Experience and Stories - The Why of Helping

Placing Collaborative Helping in a Broader Context

Moving Collaborative Helping into the Future

CHAPTER 2 CORNERSTONES OF COLLABORATIVE HELPING

Collaborative Helping as a Principle-Based Approach

Collaborative Helping and Relational Stance

Collaborative Helping and a Focus on Life Stories

Collaborative Helping and Inquiry

The Cornerstones in Plain English

CHAPTER 3 A MAP TO GHIDE HELPING EFFORTS

Introducing Collaborative Helping Maps

The Collaborative Helping Map in Action

Organizing Vision and Preferred Directions in Life

Obstacles and Supports

The Plan

The Usefulness of a Map

The Usefulness of a Map

CHAPTER 4 COLLABORATIVE HELPING MAPS IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS

Using Collaborative Helping Maps in Residential Programs

Using Collaborative Helping Maps to Enhance Conversations in Child Protective Services

Family Safety Plan

Using Collaborative Helping Maps in the Changing World of Health Care

Current and Potential Uses for Collaborative Helping Maps

CHAPTER 5 ENGAGING PEOPLE TO ENVISION NEW LIVES

Engagement – Who are You and What is Important to You?

Vision - Where Would You Like to be Headed in Your Life?

Vinny – Working with a Youth with a No Problem Stance

Margie – Working with a Woman with a No Control Stance

Visioning Difficulties

Connecting to Build Desired Futures

CHAPTER 6 RE-THINKING PROBLEMS AND STRENGTHS

Rethinking Strengths and Needs

Conversations about Problems as Obstacles Separate from People

Beginning Externalizing Conversations

Examples of Externalizing Conversations

Maps for Externalizing Conversations

Addressing the Broader Socio-Cultural Context in Externalizing

Re-Thinking Strengths as “Intentional Practices of Living”

Determination as a Counterweight to Despair

A Map For Conversations about Strengths as “Intentional Practices of Living”

Applications of Conversations about “Strengths”

New Conversations about Problems and Strengths

CHAPTER 7 DILEMMAS IN HOME AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

Concrete Help, Boundaries and the Terrain of Home and Community Work

The Contribution of Family Partners to Collaborative Helping

Relational Stance and Advocacy Efforts

Power Dynamics in Working with the Larger Helping System

Dilemmas in Advocacy Efforts

Helping People More Effectively Advocate for Themselves

In the End, It’s Still Walking and Talking

CHAPTER 8 SUSTAINABLE HELPING

Using Collaborative Helping Maps to Enhance Supervision

Building Organizations that Support Collaboration

Building Organizational Cultures that Support Collaboration

A Brief Look Back

REFERENCES