Coaching practices for Problem Solving Therapy with My Team

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Problem Solving Therapy with My Team, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• I finally tried something and it only half-worked, and my whole brain went "see, nothing I do ever works"
• My team feels off and I keep throwing fixes at it, but I can’t tell whether the real problem is that people don’t feel they belong, don’t feel safe to err, won’t volunteer ideas, or won’t disagree.
• My kid and I agree on a fix and it sounds great in the moment, but a few days later it’s fallen apart again
• I’ve got a few options on the table but I keep drifting toward whichever one scares me least instead of whichever would actually fix things
• I’ve got maybe two ideas for what to do about this and both feel hopeless, so I shoot every other thought down before I even finish it

Practices that may help

1. Problem-Solving Therapy, Made Practical
   Problem-Solving Therapy (PST), developed by Nezu and D’Zurilla, treats depression and anxiety by building structured, step-by-step problem-solving skills — targeting the learned helplessness and avoidance that occur when people face stressful life problems without an effective coping framework. Multiple randomised trials support PST for depression, especially when linked to real-life problem load.
2. Evaluate the outcome and adjust
   After implementing, honestly assess what worked, what didn’t, and what to do next.
   Problem-Solving Therapy, Made Practical
3. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works
   Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, directs attention to what already works — client strengths, past successes, and desired futures — rather than to analyzing problems. Meta-analyses report small-to-moderate positive effects across a range of presenting issues, with particular strength in behavioral problems and depression in adult populations.
4. Diagnose which safety stage your team is currently in
   Before intervening, accurately assess whether the deficit is inclusion, learner, contributor, or challenger safety.
   The Four Stages of Psychological Safety
5. Evaluate solutions for durability: realistic, mutually satisfying, safe
   A collaborative solution that fails one of three tests — realistic, mutually satisfying, safe — will not hold.
   Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
6. Evaluate solutions against costs, benefits, and fit
   Rate each solution on likelihood of success, personal costs, and fit with your values.
   Problem-Solving Therapy, Made Practical
7. Generate solutions without premature evaluation
   List as many potential solutions as possible before judging any of them.
   Problem-Solving Therapy, Made Practical
8. Push recommendations up, not problems
   Require reports to bring a recommendation alongside any problem — it’s a delegation practice, not just a time-saver.
   Delegation Levels, Made Practical
9. Manage emotional arousal before and during problem solving
   Use a brief calming strategy when emotions are too high to solve problems effectively.
   Problem-Solving Therapy, Made Practical
10. Challenge assumptions and invite new thinking
    Actively encourage your team to question old ways and generate new approaches.
    Transformational Leadership, Made Practical

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.