Stop Going for Action. Go for Description.

There's no question that one of the most common and significant challenges in solution-focused practice is what to do in the moment when a client comes back reporting that little or nothing has changed since the last session.

They say:

How do you respond?

The pull in that moment is almost automatic: Figure out what went wrong and what the barriers were. Then, move toward action: Pick something concrete. Set a goal. Identify a first step. That feels productive — like you're helping the client leave with something to do.

But action that arrives before the client has a clear, detailed description of what they actually want tends not to take root. They leave with a task list, not a direction. And a task list doesn't necessarily lead to solid, lasting change.

What makes a difference is to help your client create a detailed description of what they want their life to look like. Not what they plan to do, but what would be different and what would be different about them in their better future.

What do I do with a client who knows exactly what they need to do—and still isn't doing it?

Here's another version of the answer to the question. Again, the client says, "I know I need to move more, eat better, sleep more. I just can't seem to make myself do it."

The usual reflex is to go straight to action. Pick one area. Narrow it down. Set a goal. Make a plan that includes strategies to cover all bases. And then identify a first step. This seems logical, practical, and efficient.

But when it comes to fostering change success, action plans that come too early don't take root. The client is left chasing strategies to see what takes hold and will work. But that's not the same thing as change.

What matters more at this stage is not getting the client to commit to a plan, but helping them describe what the future they want would actually look like. This is the part people rush past, if they explore it at all. But this is the part of the conversation that's crucial..

So when a client says something like "I just want to feel healthier," that word — healthier — is the moment to stop — as if you were marking it with a highlighter. And instead of racing ahead to strategy, stay there and ask for a description. For each area the client mentions, you might ask:

Then, rather than treating the first answer as enough, keep the client engaged in developing it:

Questions like these aren't about what they should do or do next. It's not about a plan.

That description matters because it gives a destination for the work and shape to the change. Without a clear destination anchored in what matters and what's important to the client, any next step is just a guess. This is one of the distinctions at the heart of how the Solution-Focused approach differs from Motivational Interviewing.

So before moving to action, make sure the client has described something clear enough to build on.

Your client's description of what their life would look like in their better future and what would be different is foundational. By helping your client describe life as they want it to be, in concrete enough terms that it becomes imaginable, recognizable, and eventually reachable, change becomes almost inevitable.

Related: When Strategy Becomes the Destination