"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Einstein.
A regular questions thats asked is how can we solve the problem a person has without knowing the extent of the problem. Although it can be useful to know what the person wants less of or more of and when necessary to validate how difficult it must be for the client to have coped so well to get to this point. I'm not sure how a helper could possibly understand the full extent of the problem and the mass of variances, we could only get a few glimpses into someone's life, a few snapshots and I wouldn't want to generalise from this, it wouldn't be respectful.
Personally I find the exception times much more helpful to know what qualities and resources someone brings to the conversation, even though they may be fleeting. I prefer to have conversations that give a sense of hope and empowerment rather than to discover a deeper sense of dysfunction and then try to crawl back to the land of the hopeful.
To me hope is proportionate to motivation!
