Some years ago I took on an assignment in a southern county to work with people on public welfare. What I wanted to do was show that everybody has the capacity to be self-sufficient, and all we have to do is to activate them. I asked the county to pick a group of people who were on public welfare, people from different racial groups and different family constellations. I would then see them as a group for three hours every Friday. I also asked for a little petty cash to work with as I needed it. 
  The first thing I said after I shook hands with everybody was, "I would like to know what your dreams are." Everyone looked at me as if I were kind of wacky. 
  "Dreams? We don't have dreams." I said, "Well, when you were a kid what happened? Wasn't there something you wanted to do?" 
  One woman said to me, "I don't know what you can do with dreams. The rats are eating up my kids." 
  "Oh," I said. 
  "That's terrible. No, of course, you are very much involved with the rats and your kids. How can that be helped?" 
  "Well, I could use a new screen door because there are holes in my screen door." 
  I asked, "Is there anybody around here who knows how to fix a screen door?"

  There was a man in the group, and he said, "A long time ago I used to do things like that, but now I have a terribly bad back, but I'll try." 
  I told him I had some money if he would go to the store, buy some screening, and go and fix the lady's screen door. 
  "Do you think you can do that?" 
  "Yes, I'll try." 
  The next week, when the group was seated, I said to the woman, "Well is your screen door fixed?" 
  "Oh, yes," she said. "Then we can start dreaming, can't we?" She sort of smiled at me. I said to the man who did the work, 
  "How do you feel?" 
  He said, "Well, you know, it's a very funny thing. I'm beginning to feel a lot better." That helped the group to begin to dream. These seemingly small successes allowed the group to see that dreams were not insane. These small steps began to get people to see and feel that something really could happen.
I began to ask other people about their dreams. One woman shared that she always wanted to be a secretary. I said, "Well, what stands in your way?" (That's always my next question). 
  She said, "I have six kids, and I don't have anyone to take care of them while I'm away."
  "Let's find out," I said. 
  "Is there anybody in this group who would take care of six kids for a day or two a week while this woman gets some training here at the community college?" 
  One woman said, "I got kids, too, but I could do that."
  "Let's do it," I said. A plan was created and the woman went to school. 
  Everyone found something. The man who put in the screen door became a handyman. The woman who took in the children became a licensed foster care person.   In 12 weeks I had all these people off public welfare. I've not only done that once, I've done it many times.
- Virginia Satir

  几年前我在南部的一个县城工作，同那些靠社会福利生活的人打交道。我要向他们证明每个人都可能自食其力，所以我要想办法激励他们。我选了一组靠社会福利度日的人作为工作对象，这些人来自不同的种族和家庭。每周五我都要用几小时的时间和他们面对面地谈话，另外我还申请了一小笔经费。
第一次见面，我和他们一一握手之后，然后提出了第一个问题：“我想知道你们都有什么样的梦想？”大家都像看怪物一样地看着我。
“梦想，我们可没什么梦想，”有个人说。
“那好，你小时候是怎么过的，那时候你都想做什么？”
一个女士说：“不知道你问这个干什么。我只知道要是我再不回家，我的孩子说不定会被老鼠吃掉。”
“哦，那太可怕了。你一定很为这事操心，怎么才能帮帮你呢？”
“嗯，我希望有一个新的纱门，我原来的那个上面都有洞了。”
“有人知道怎么修纱门吗？”我问。
其中一个人说：“很多年以前我做过这种工作，可是现在我的后背受伤了，但我可以试试。”
我告诉他我可以给他一些钱去商店买修纱门用的布，然后帮那位女士把纱门修好。
“你觉得自己可以做吗？”
“我试试吧。”
第二个星期五，这些人再次聚到一起，落座后，我问那个女士：“你家的纱门修好了吗？”
“是的，好了，”她说。
“那么我们可以开始谈谈梦想了吧？”
她对展露了微笑。
我又问那个修纱门的人：“你感觉如何？”
他说：“知道吗？这件事非常有趣，我感觉很好。”
在这样的帮助下，这群人开始有了梦想。一些看似微不足道的进步让他们意识到其实梦想决不是天方夜谭。小小的进展让人们看到也感觉到有些事情真的可以发生。
我又问了其他人的梦想。有位女士说她一直都想做秘书。我接着问她：“那是什么妨碍了你呢？”（我通常会这么问。）
他说：“我有六个孩子，没人帮我照看他们，我脱不开身。”
“咱们得想个办法，”我说，“这位女士每个星期都要到社区大学接受一两天的培训，有人愿意帮她看孩子吗？”
另一个女士答道：“我也有孩子，我可以帮她。”
“那就这么定了。”
我们制定了一个计划，想当秘书的那个女士可以去学校学习了。
每个人都找到了事情做，修纱门的那个人找了份勤杂工的工作，帮忙照看孩子的那个女士成了一个有执照的看护员。我用了１２个星期的时间让这些人自食其力。当然，我还帮助了更多的人摆脱不劳而获的状态。