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Economically and educationally disadvantaged students who enter higher education opportunity programs, like other disadvantaged groups, often feel blamed and degraded by an 'us versus them' orientation in schools and communities. Too frequently, problem-focused social work contributes to this context in spite of the good intentions of social workers. This article discusses five solution-focused techniques that transmit powerful, affirming metamessages to students in educational opportunity programs and also reduce the perceived gap between social workers and students. Key words: disadvantaged; higher education; metamessage; students, Students who enter higher education opportunity programs (HEOPs), like other disadvantaged groups, frequently feel as if they are viewed as different, of limited ability or motivation, untrustworthy, and perhaps unwanted. [...]