Illness Management and Recovery / IMR-A15-4
Problem-Solving One Barrier — Session activity
Facilitate a structured practice of problem-solving one barrier with preparation, reflection, and an agreed closing.
30 minutes · Session guide · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Casey wants to attend a group but finds the route confusing.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Structured problem-solving can turn a broad difficulty into a workable task.
0–5 min | Agree on purpose and fit
Explain the educational scope. Ask what would be useful, check readiness and access needs, and establish choices to observe, adapt, or pass. Use an ordinary example; do not solicit trauma narratives.
5–10 min | Orient with an example
Structured problem-solving can turn a broad difficulty into a workable task. Fictional example: Casey wants to attend a group but finds the route confusing. Ask what is observed and what remains uncertain.
10–20 min | Practice and compare
Define one barrier, list options, compare access and consequences, and choose a small trial. Offer quiet individual work, a supported conversation, or an observing role. Compare two possible responses without evaluating people as right or wrong.
20–25 min | Reflect on meaning
Which option is both useful and available? Ask what fit, what did not fit, and how culture, power, disability access, or external conditions affect the options.
25–30 min | Integrate and close
Invite one optional next step or support request. Orient to the current setting, allow an unfinished question to remain unfinished, and agree how to revisit it. End early or adapt if activation increases.
Adaptations
For a group, use fiction and no compulsory round-robin disclosure. For remote use, allow off-camera reflection and private notes. For brief use, keep one example and one question while retaining opening and closing choices.
Prompts for this resource
- What outcome would make this practice useful?
- Which option is both useful and available?
- What adaptation or follow-up is needed?
Conceptual background
Illness Management and Recovery Evidence-Based Practices KIT — SAMHSA
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.