In this episode of Leading From Behind, we continue with our general look at some of the many applications of solution focused practice.  This time, we examine some of the ways that solution focused practice has become an increasing presence in the workplace.

Solution focused practice in the workplace often takes the form of coaching - helping individuals, teams and organizations to achieve their best hopes in creating effective work environments.  At the same time, there's an increasing role for training members of organizations to use solution focused practice as defined model of practice in the areas of leadership, planning and workplace relations. 

During this episode, we provide two examples of solution focused practice in the workplace - a case example of a coaching session with a manager and template for working with a team who want to strengthen their performance together.

In the closing resource segment of the program, we highlight the following links:

SOLWorld - Sharing and Building Solution Focused Practice in Organizations

SFWork - The Centre for Solutions Focus at Work

University of Toronto - Solution Focused Brief Coaching program

The Solutions Focus"  The SIMPLE Way to Positive Change (2002) by Paul Z. Jackson & Mark McKergow 

Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions (2005) by Insoo Kim Berg & Peter Szabo

Regardless of the therapeutic approach, working with children and youth can be very different from working in a helping role with adults.  And this certainly holds true when using a solution focused approach.

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we take a brief and very basic look at some of the general considerations for the solution focused therapist when working with children.  In particular, we highlight the importance of seeing young people (including very young kids) as still having expertise about their own lives.  We also note the importance of building a strong therapeutic alliance with this population, as without it, successful outcomes are often doomed.  Finally, we highlight how creativity can be very important when using some of the common solution focused questions with younger clients.

In the resource segment of the podcast, we highlight the following links.

Working on What Works - two publications by Insoo Kim Berg and Lee Shilts

The website of Ben Furman, creator of Kids Skills

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we take a general look at using the solution focused approach in working with couples.  While the basic structure or process of working with couples is essentially the same as when we work with individuals, this episode highlights some of the unique differences and challenges when there is more than just one client in the room.

In the resource segment of this episode we highlight the following links relating to solution focused practice with couples:

The work of Elliott Connie

Recreating Partnership:  A Solution-Oriented, Collaborative Approach to Couples Therapy (2001) by Toby Hiller & Phillip Ziegler

Rewriting Love Stories:  Brief Marital Therapy (1994) by Bill O'Hanlon & Patricia Hudson O'Hanlon

Divorce Busting (1993) by Michelle Weiner-Davis

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we examine solution focused conversations with mandated or involuntary clients.  For the purposes of this discussion, we describe mandated clients as people who attend sessions reluctantly and who may have little or no agreement with the referral source's description of the problem.

In addressing this subject, we highlight the importance of seeing mandated clients as having expertise about their own lives, and their own good reasons for the adopting the positions they hold.

Our role, as solution focused therapists, is to find a place of collaboration that reflects what's important to the client and what might also be important to the referral source.  Along the way, we note how focusing on exceptions to the problem can be a useful way of building such collaboration.

Resource links in this episode:

Conferences:

United Kingdom Association for Solution Focused Practice  - June 12-13, 2014 at Liverpool, England

European Brief Therapy Association  - September 26-29, 2014 at Leeuwarden, Friesland, The Netherlands

Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association  - November 2014 at Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Social Work Podcast - Also available on iTunes & Stitcher Radio App

Client feedback on the therapeutic alliance and the presence of early change have been identified as the best predictors of outcome in psychotherapy.  The Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) and the Session Rating Scale (SRS) are tools that help the solution focused practitioner generate this important feedback. 

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we conclude our look at Feedback Informed Treatment practices by examining how the ORS & SRS is administered, scored and then used as way of collaborating with clients in seeking a positive outcome. 

During the resource segment of the episode, we provide more specific information on how to obtain a free personal license for the ORS & SRS.  We also identify a useful online community for clinicians (regardless of therapeutic approach) who use feedback informed treatment practices in their work. 

Links: 

Performance Metrics page on Scott Miller's website

International Center for Clinical Excellence 

This is the first of two episodes devoted to feedback informed treatment practices. 

In many countries, there's a growing demand for accountability and transparency in psychotherapy.  Programs, services and individual clinicians face increasing responsibility to provide evidence of their effectiveness. 

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we look at the rationale for including feedback informed treatment practices into your work as a solution focused therapist. 

Feedback informed treatment practices involve the solicitation of structured feedback from our clients at each session, regarding progress and their perception of the therapeutic alliance.  In collaboration with the client, the feedback can be used to make any adjustments necessary to invite a positive outcome. 

There is increasing evidence that feedback informed treatment practices can improve outcomes and reduce dropouts, waiting lists and the average length of time some people spend in therapy.  Most of all, these practices honour the client's expertise and opinions (a foundation of the solution focused approach) and bring much needed accountability and transparency to our work as clinicians. 

In the resource segment of the program, we highlight two resources related to feedback informed treatment:

The Heart & Soul of Change: Delivering What Works in Therapy - edited by Barry Duncan, Scott Miller, Bruce Wampold and Mark Hubble  

Scott Miller's website

Building one's skills in solution focused practice requires intentionality.  In this episode of Leading From Behind, we look at three methods of maintaining an ongoing focus in this area. 

For most of this episode, we look at how participating in consulting teams can create rich opportunities for learning in a supportive environment.  In the absence of having a group of colleagues available for a team approach, we also identify how even sitting in each other's sessions can be a useful learning experience.  Finally, we underline the benefits that can come from reviewing audio or video recordings of your work with clients. 

In the resource segment of the program, we note two week-long intensive training programs in solution focused therapy that might be of interest to practitioners in North America or Europe.  While details of the 2014 programs are not available at this time, inks to the two organizations are listed below: 

BRIEF Summer School 

Denver Center for Solution Focused Brief Therapy (Summer Intensive)

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we conclude our beginning examination of the process of conversation in follow-up sessions in solution focused therapy.  This time, we highlight how scaling questions, questioning about the next small sign of change and, of course, the end of session message are utilized. 

In the resource segment of the program, we provide some detail about a recently-announced solution focused therapy conference planned for Orlando, Florida.  The inaugural Solution Focused Therapy Expo founded by Elliot Connie and Linda Metcalf will be held from February 14-15, 2014.  We also note the release of the first edition of a new online journal devoted to solution focused therapy.  The International Journal of Solution Focused Practices published its first work this month and new editions will appear every six months.

Details about the conference and the new journal can be found at the links below: 

Solution Focused Therapy Expo

International Journal of Solution Focused Practices

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we continue our look at follow-up sessions.  Although the solution focused therapist is concerned with "what's better" in follow-up sessions, clients invariably will report setbacks and/or circumstances that appear to remain unchanged since the previous session.

The focus in this episode, therefore, is on how the solution focused practitioner responds to the many variations of 'better, worse and the same,' while at the same time maintaining a solution building stance. 

In the resource segment of this episode, we present links to two worthwhile articles available for download on the web: 

The Second Session - an article by Sweden's Dr. Harry Korman

Solution Focused Therapy Treatment Manual for Working With Individuals - an updated document prepared by a number authors on behalf of the Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association.

A significant part of follow-up sessions in solution focused practice involves the exploration of improvements in the client's life since the previous contact. 

In this episode of Leading From Behind, we examine the process and skills used by the solution focused practitioner as we begin the follow-up session with the simple question, "What's better?" To facilitate this discussion, we return to our case example, as we explore how the solution focused practitioner elicits, amplifies and reinforces the client's responses to the question. 

In the resource section of the podcast, we highlight the following books:

 Doing Something Different: Solution Focused Brief Therapy Practices (2011), edited by Thorana Nelson

Working with Children and Teenagers Using Solution Focused Approaches: Enabling Children to Overcome Challenges and Achieve Their Potential (2011), written by Judith Milner & Jackie Bateman

Note:  The podcast will be on a summer break for the month of August.  The next episode will be released on September 1, 2013. 

While follow-up sessions in solution focused practice require many of the same skills, questions and elements of first sessions, there's no question that the structure is often more fluid.  This is because of the many variations and possibilities that a client can bring back for a follow-up session.

In the first of a series of episodes devoted to this subject, this episode of Leading From Behind offers a general introduction to the conversations we have with clients when they return for a follow-up session.

In particular, we introduce the the classic beginning to such sessions, where the solution focused practitioner asks the question, "What's better?"  As well, we talk about the key follow-up process to this question, where we seek to amplify and reinforce what the client has achieved since the previous section.  

In the resource segment of this episode, we note two books on solution focused practice.  The first is a classic, while the second is a relatively new one: 

Solution Talk:  Hosting Therapeutic Conversations (2001), by Ben Furman an Tapani Ahola

Solution Focused Therapy for the Helping Professions (2011) by Barry Winbolt