With regard to children, brief counseling tends to emphasize which focus?

• A. The child's strengths.
• B. The child's wants.
• C. The child's origins.
• D. The child's needs.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that brief counseling with children is typically strength-based and future-focused. In short-term work, the counselor quickly identifies what the child does well and the resources they can draw on—family support, school supports, coping skills, and personal resilience—and uses those strengths to set concrete, achievable goals. This approach helps the child feel capable, increases engagement, and provides a positive framework to create change within a limited number of sessions. While the child’s wants, origins, or needs may come up, they’re not the central focus in brief, goal-directed work; the emphasis is on leveraging strengths to move toward solutions.