Creating New Narratives

The science and art of Solution Focused practice

Thursday 18th and Friday 19th May 2017

Beales Hotel, Hatfield AL10 9NG

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Conference Handbook

Page

• Welcome and Keynotes 3

• Timetables 4

• Abstracts 6

• Local information about Hatfield and Beales Hotel 20

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Welcome

A very warm welcome to all our delegates and speakers from HESIAN and UKASFP. We are

delighted to be collaborating this year to bring you the very best of research and practice in

solution focused approaches to change. Have a great conference.

Mark McKergow for HESIAN & Jen Unwin for UKASFP

Keynotes

Dr Wendel Ray

Elliott Connie

Elliott Connie is a solution focused therapist with his private practice based in Keller, TX. Elliott specialises in using the solution focused approach to work with couples. He is the co-author of the book The Art of Solution Focused Therapy, and his second book, Solution Building in Couples Therapy, was published in 2012. His latest book, The Solution Focused Marriage: 5 Simple Habits That Will Bring Out the Best in Your Relationship, is now available.

Elliott has travelled throughout the United States and the world, including the UK, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Russia, South Africa and Canada, training psychotherapists to work more effectively with couples, and helping couples to build more satisfying relationships.

Wendel Ray earned a BA in Sociology and Political Science in 1981 and a Master of Social Work in 1983, at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg ; he got his PhD. as Doctor of Philosophy in Marriage & Family Therapy in 1989 at Nova University, Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Dr Ray has been an individual, couple, and family therapist for more than 30 years, helping people find solutions to problems in living. His practice is specialised in brief therapy to solve intransigent relationship problems. He is also a Professor of Family System Theory at the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences at University of Louisiana in Monroe. He’s been teaching people how to be effective therapists as well as conducting workshops around the world and publishing extensively on how to help therapists be effective in helping people improve their marital, family, and business relationships. Dr Ray is a Senior Research Fellow and former Director of the Mental Research Institute (MRI), and founding director of the Don D. Jackson Archive of Systemic Literature. Author of 100+ juried journal articles and book chapters, and 10 books available in 8 languages, Dr Ray is frequently invited to teach Brief Therapy and applied system theory at forums in the USA, across Europe, Asia, and Central America.

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May 18th

9.00 Registration 9.30 Welcome and opening remarks (Mark McKergow, University of Hertfordshire) 9.45 Guest keynote: The roots and shoots of Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Dr Wendel Ray (The University of Louisiana at Monroe/ Mental Research Institute (MRI), Palo Alto). MRI archivist Wendel Ray looks back at the roots of SFBT in the interactional view of the ground-breaking Mental Research Institute, and looks forward at how these factors can continue to be central as SF work develops in the 21st century. 10.30 Changing affordances, changing worlds: Mark McKergow (University of Hertfordshire) 11.00 Coffee 11.30 The process of SF practice - session chair Kirsten Dierolf Extended minds, extended persons, extended therapy: Guy Shennan (Guy Shennan Associates, UK) 12.00 Developing the Craft: Description, Neutrality and Trust: Chris Iveson (BRIEF, UK) 12.30 Hearing & Seeing Interactional Process: Wendel Ray and Jana Sutton (University of Louisiana at Monroe, USA) 13.00 Lunch 14.00 SF, IAPT and therapy research – session chair Kidge Burns Why most psychotherapy research is unhelpful and how SFP can help overcome the barriers to measuring the effectiveness of useful conversations: Steve Flatt (Psychological Therapies Unit, Liverpool) 14.25 IAPT and SF: Clive Whitaker and Roshna Mistry (Change Birmingham Brief Therapy) 14.50 Using SF in an integrated IAPT service keeping managers happy, clients delighted and achieving good enough scores: Carolyn Emanuel (Brent IAPT, Central & Northwest London Mental Health Trust) 15.15 SF Brief Therapy and SF Brief Coaching - same same or something different? : Svea van der Hoorn (Solution-focused Futures, South Africa) and Kirsten Dierolf (Solutions Academy, Germany) 15.40 Tea 16.10 SF in practice with young people and adults – session chair Svea van der Hoorn Planning, implementation and evaluation of a Solution-Focused Group Counselling programme, for adolescents living in child protection centres: Evgenia Savvidou, Andreas Brouzos (University of Ioannina, Greece) and Stephanos Vassilopoulos (University of Patras, Greece) 16.35 Talking to the Elephant - Solutions Focused transformation in schools: Geoff James (Solution Support, UK) 17.00 Solution Focused brief therapy In post-stroke Aphasia (SOFIA Trial): the challenges and opportunities of adapting the approach for people with a communication disability: Sarah Northcott (City University of London), Kidge Burns (SF practitioner) and Katerina Hilari (City University of London) 17.25 The liberating possibilities of Signs of Safety: a solution-focused framework for collaboration in situations of high risk: Louise Doel and Chloe Rogers (University of Hertfordshire)

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May 19th

Time Room 1 Room 2 Room 3 Room 4

08.00 Registration

09.00 Welcome activity

09.15 Keynote

Elliott Connie (USA): The art of asking useful questions

10.00 Brief papers (‘TED talks’)

Geoffrey James: Is exclusion really the last resort? Svea van der Hoorn (South Africa): Restoring Dignity via Coping Talk - the neglected cousin of Change Talk Jody Merelle (Finland): Bad things happen: using SF tools to remain positive in times of crisis Thomas Hirschmann (Austria): OASIS: Experiences with a solution focused in-patient programme for patients suffering from cancer

11.00 Coffee

11.30 Workshops

Elliott Connie SFBT: Mastering the questions as

language

Jody Merelle A beginners’ guide to the

solution focused world

Guy Shennan & Barry Golten

“We don’t do therapy here…”

Bringing solution-focused ideas into support settings

John Brooker Does a Solution Focus approach

energise an organisation?

12.30 Lunch UKASFP AGM at 1pm

13.30 Workshops

Members Forum A chance to

discuss advancing the UKASFP with the committee

Beginners workshop

Cont.

Jonathan Casemore

Problem free talk and best hopes in

social work

Stephan Natynczuk

Putting SF talk into the walk:

Taking SF outdoors.

14.30 Workshops

Suzi Curtis, Kidge Burns & Martin

Bohn Nailing jelly to the wall: lessons from

developing the UKASFP

accreditation system

Thomas Hirschmann

Scaling with your senses: A creative

approach for noticing progress

Geoff James Having a laugh - the smile at the

heart of SF conversations.

John Wheeler Catching

butterflies: SF conversations

with young children

15.30 Tea

16.00 Plenary

workshop

Jonas Wells (Sweden) The Aesthetics of Keeping SF as Simple as Possible: Sharing Stories and a Space

for Reflections

17.00 Close

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Abstracts

Thursday May 18th

Mark McKergow. University of Hertfordshire, UK

Changing Affordances, changing worlds

The growth in interest and work on the enactive paradigm for cognition offers some

interesting connections with the knotty question of ‘how does Solution-Focused therapy

work?’. In this session I will set out in detail the idea of ‘affordances’ – opportunities for

interaction with the world. This concept, developed by James Gibson (1979) and

extended subsequently, can give an insight into how SF works and also give a basis for

the latest developments in SF based more firmly on detailed descriptions (Shennan and

Iveson, 2011) as a potentially more effective version. The enactive paradigm gives a

link from Wittgenstein through language to action and the most basic ways that we

experience the world and ourselves. The world we experience – described in enactivism

as the ‘umwelt’ – is the sum total of our affordances, our possibilities for interaction. This

is, if such a thing is possible, the ‘science of social construction’.

Guy Shennan. Guy Shennan Associates, UK

Extended minds, extended persons, extended therapy

Since he co-wrote the seminal article, The Extended Mind, with David Chalmers in 1998,

Andy Clark has continued to develop a compelling account of an extended concept of

both cognition and personhood. In his foreword to Clark’s 2008 work, Supersizing the

mind: Embodiment, action and cognitive extension, David Chalmers refers to the many

cases, ‘in domain after domain’, where Clark shows how the extended view can change

the way we think about the relationship between mind and world. One domain that Clark

has not entered, as far as I am aware, is that of therapy or other change work. Yet I

believe that these endeavours can gain much from paying close attention to the work of

Clark and other writers on extended cognition. I further contend that there is a particular

fit with the solution-focused approach, suggested in part by Clark’s Principle of Ecological

Assembly. According to this principle, 'the canny cognizer tends to recruit, on the spot,

whatever mix of problem-solving resources will yield an acceptable result with a

minimum of effort' (Clark, 2008, p13). In this paper, as well as showing its fit with

solution-focused practice, I will apply the extended view to the question of personal

identity, and argue that it entails that a person’s persistence through time requires

environmental and social continuity as well as psychological and bodily continuity. I will

contend that this in turn has implications for how we should approach our solution-

focused work.

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Chris Iveson. BRIEF UK

Developing the Craft: Description, Neutrality and Trust

Solution focused brief therapy is neither an art nor a science: it was not conceived as a

way to express creativity or control the world but as a very specific conversational

framework for helping distressed people find a more satisfactory way forward with their

lives. Shaping those conversations is a straightforward teachable craft which has been

half of BRIEF’s mission for almost three decades. The other half has been to keep

Solution Focused Brief Therapy ‘in the dock’ – to keep a question mark beside both its

‘rules’ and its efficacy. Are these three guidelines sufficient for effective and brief

therapy?

Wendel Ray. Univeristy of Louisiana at Monroe, USA

Hearing & Seeing Interactional Process

Being able to hear and see interactional dynamics in the current moment is an invaluable

skill that is learnable and teachable. Once interactional dynamics are grasped a person is

in a position to use this knowledge first to test by means of inquiry then to use patterns

displayed to induce constructive change. in a situation. This paper will describe

conceptual, observational and intervention strategies introduced by Don Jackson,

Gregory Bateson, John Weakland, Jay Haley & William Fry (Palo Alto Group) that remain

essential to effective systemic practice.

Steve Flatt. Psychological Therapies Unit, UK

Why most psychotherapy research is unhelpful and how SFP can help overcome

the barriers to measuring the effectiveness of useful conversations

Recent research among psychotherapy studies suggests that “We cannot currently have

confidence in the results being reported in psychotherapy trials given there is no means

of verifying for most trials that investigators have analyzed their data without bias.

These findings seriously impact on the confidence we can place in the evidence base in

psychotherapy research.” (H. A. Bradley, J. J. Rucklidge, R. T. Mulder, 2016).

Unfortunately, as Bradley et al point out, the vast majority of studies are reviewed by

the same small group of academics and published in the same small number of journals.

This tends to standardise and limit any innovation in the way outcomes are measured.

The very nature of SFP tends to lead to innovative thinking about different ways to be

helpful for clients; it is playful and creative leading to new and sometimes unexpected

outcomes for all involved in the process. SFP is a naturally developmental and

imaginative process that consistently asks questions not only of its clients but of itself.

Unlike traditional reductive approaches that tend to stifle new ideas and create

ideologies around which developments are then clustered, SFP has at its foundations

thoughts like “doing more of what works” and “if it isn’t working, do something else”.

These principles naturally challenge practitioners and provoke thought about what could

be better. Never has this been more apparent than at this time when more and more

people are exploring the foundations, the current practice and future possibilities that is

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Solution Focused Practice.

This short presentation hopes to explore current thinking about the measurement of

talking interventions, the limitations and the possibilities and perhaps what we should be

turning our attention to for the future.

Reference:

H. A. Bradley, J. J. Rucklidge, R. T. Mulder, (2016) A systematic review of trial

registration and selective outcome reporting in psychotherapy randomized controlled

trials, Acta Psychiatr Scand 2017: 135: 65–77.

Clive Whitaker & Roshna Mistry. Change. UK

IAPT and SF

As the only exclusively SFBT practising charity accumulating IAPT data in the

Birmingham area, we are uniquely placed to reveal the abilities of different agencies with

different approaches to attain the elusive golden chalice of high key performance

indicators and the relative performance of SF in this environment. Unsurprisingly Change

top scores and it is this data that will be revealed and discussed during the workshop.

Carolyn Emanuel. Brent IAPT, Central and Northwest London Mental Health Trust

Using sf in an integrated IAPT service keeping managers happy, clients

delighted and achieving good enough scores

As lead counsellor for an integrated IAPT team in North London, I bring in an SF

approach to training and supervision with the brief focused counsellors with different

trainings. This approach is about BOTH appointing therapists who apply to IAPT positions

AND feeding them with SF skills, techniques and approaches to help clients change in the

most efficient way. In this presentation I intend to share my experiences from inside an

integrated NHS service where I present SF to therapists in the team through CPD,

supervision and informal conversations. I hope to talk about some work with clients as

an example of SF's fit with IAPT.

Svea van der Hoorn. Solution-focused Futures, SA & Kirsten Dierolf. Solutions Academy, Germany.

SF Brief Therapy and SF Brief Coaching - same same or something different?

“SF sounds, looks, and is done the same whether it is coaching or therapy” is a

statement being heard in solution focused circles. Is this really the case?

Svea and Kirsten are exploring what is the same and what is different, and what's

important about this anyway.

Some of the lenses through which they are exploring:

• In which specific time, space and socio-political economic contexts did SFBT come into

being?

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• How might we build on this interactional, context sensitive approach as we are

extending it in other fields?

• How might we recognise that what is done in these other fields, is still what SFBT was

all about? Is it something else we are co-creating?

• What are the clues / signs we use in our various fields to recognise what we do as

being SF and/or SFBT?

In this paper, they will present what they hope will provide a rich set of more or less

useful misunderstandings with which to engage in debate and discussion around

questions like:

• What are the implications of taking seriously SF’s philosophical stance that context

matters when we look at the differences in context of SF coaching and SF Brief therapy?

• What research questions might be worth investigating?

• How might we weave coherence instead of landing up with just a bunch of dangling

threads?

• How might we take these ideas forward?

Evengia Savvidou, Andreas Brouzos. University of Ioannina, Greece & Stephanos Vassilopoulos.

University of Patra, Greece.

Planning, implementation and evaluation of a Solution-Focused Group

Counselling programme for adolescents living in child protection centres

The aim of this research is to design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a

Solution-Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC) Groupwork programme for adolescents living

in child protection centres. The sample consisted of 44 teenagers (26 were the control

group and 18 were the intervention group), who are currently based in 3 different

centres. At each centre one separate intervention group was created (with 5-7

participants each), in which six sessions took place. Predominantly, the SFBC techniques

were configured for group intervention by an appropriately trained group coordinator.

The goals were set by the participants at the start of the programme, and were aimed at

the improvement of their interpersonal relationships, an increase in self-esteem and

anger management. The evaluation was made through a quasi-experimental pre-

test/post-test comparison group design. The results showed that the self-control and

self-esteem of the participants in the SFBC intervention group were significantly

increased. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with members of the

intervention group, where the participants reported that throughout the programme they

helped to set goals and to come closer to the rest of the team, through sharing common

issues and finding support and contribution from their peers.

Geoff James. Solution Support UK

Talking to the Elephant - Solutions Focused transformation in schools

Behaviour management in schools is dominated by the idea that engaging the child as a

person is irrelevant and unnecessary. The long-term natural experiment of using this

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approach demonstrates its failure to include many children, in attempting to condition

them into new ways of behaving, through reward and punishment. Solutions Focused

practice and theory support long-established but largely unstructured practices that draw

on other ideas about the place for nurture, unconditional positive regard, empathy and

relationship in strengthening inclusion and wellbeing of children in schools.

New evidence is emerging about the importance of engaging emotionally with people as

a first step towards productive change and Solutions Focused coaching provides a

language to carry these ideas through into practice.

How this is embodied practically and theoretically within the Solutions Focused paradigm

is the subject of this presentation, drawing on the author’s current work in schools in

Lincolnshire and new thinking in neuroscience and behaviour.

Sarah NorthCott. City University of London, UK. Kidge Burns. SF practitioner & Katerina Hilari.

University of London, UK

Solution Focused brief therapy in post-stroke Aphasia (SOFIA Trial): the

challenges and opportunities of adapting the approach for people with a

communication disability

Background and Aims

Around one third of stroke survivors will have aphasia, a language disability which can

affect talking, understanding, reading or writing. People with aphasia are at risk of

becoming depressed and isolated, yet are mostly excluded from research exploring

effective psychosocial therapies due to their language difficulties. One potential

intervention is Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT): it has not yet been formally

evaluated for people living with stroke and aphasia.

The current trial builds on a completed proof-of-concept study that explored SFBT with

five people who had mild to moderate aphasia, at least two years post stroke. There

were improvements in participants’ mood (General Health Questionnaire, Cohen’s d =

0.79) and communicative participation (Communicative Participation Item Bank, Cohen’s

d = 0.81); and participants found the therapy highly acceptable.

The aims of the “Solution Focused brief therapy In post-stroke Aphasia” (SOFIA) trial

are:

[1] Consider how best to adapt SFBT for people with post-stroke aphasia, including those

with severe aphasia who have extremely limited verbal output;

[2] Examine the feasibility of carrying out a future large-scale trial on clinical and cost-

effectiveness;

[3] Collect mixed methods data on the acceptability of the therapy, and perceived

benefits, including at follow up.

Methods

There will be an initial ‘Development Phase’ (Phase One, which started November 2016)

to explore how to make the approach work well for people with severe aphasia who were

not included in the proof-of-concept study. For Phase Two (commencing November

2017) we will recruit 32 participants with aphasia, at least six months post stroke.

Participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention group or wait-list control

group. All participants will receive all usual care. The intervention group will additionally

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receive up to six therapy sessions over three months, delivered by Speech and Language

Therapists (SLTs). Both groups will be assessed by a Research Assistant blinded to

treatment allocation on psychosocial outcome measures at Time One (immediately prior

to therapy), Time Two (three months later, post therapy) and Time Three (three months

after Time Two). Participants will also complete service use questionnaires and take part

in in-depth interviews at Time Three. Additionally, the wait-list control group will be

offered the intervention after Time Three, and reassessed three months later at Time

Four.

Planned analysis

We will assess the feasibility and acceptability of the study protocol. Quantitative data

will be analysed using mixed two-factor ANOVAs; qualitative data analysed using

Framework Analysis. The primary comparison will be between the intervention group and

the control group at Time Three.

Discussion and Clinical Implications

We will discuss initial findings from the Development Phase and proof-of-concept study,

explore how we have adapted the approach for people with communication disability,

and present the protocol for Phase Two of the SOFIA trial. Given the high levels of

distress and isolation experienced by people with aphasia, and the current poor evidence

base, there is a pressing need to investigate effective psychosocial interventions.

This project is funded by The Stroke Association Jack and Averil (Mansfield) Bradley

Fellowship Award for Stroke Research.

Louise Doel & Chloe Rogers. University of Hertfordshire. UK

The liberating possibilities of Signs of Safety: a solution-focused framework for

collaboration in situations of high risk

The implied position of social constructionism in SFBT and the Signs of Safety is that

social workers are required to make their “expert” position vulnerable to service-users’

knowledge, skills and strengths and through a process of collaboration create new

"realities" together. It's a framework that supports workers to take a 2nd order, non-

expert position even in situations of high risk/ serious abuse, helping them to remain

solution-focused when the default position might be managerialist, defensive, process-

driven practice with the social worker positioned as the "expert" directing change.

This is liberating for both workers and families, in the sense of freeing workers from a

defensive mode of practice, and enabling creativity and change in family behaviours.

As educationalists we have, for many years, promoted collaboration with service users as

a fundamental tenet of social work practice but often felt that this is seen as non-viable

in situations of significant risk, when workers are inclined to exert more control. Our

students may disregard our teaching, seeing us in our ‘ivory tower’ whilst they are

tackling the demands of the ‘real world’. However, some local authorities in the area

have now started to adopt the Signs of Safety approach, developed in Australia by

Andrew Turnell and Steve Edwards which is an adaptation of Solution Focused Brief

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Therapy specifically for work in child protection assessment and intervention. Chloe has

recent experience of working in this way and is therefore in an excellent position to

propose its viability to our students. The method is an adaptation of SFBT and we would

present aspects of the adaptation which include things like assessing signs of risk as well

as safety and amplifying worries as well as strengths; differences which I think might

seem counter intuitive to the established solution focused practitioner.

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Abstracts

Friday May 19th

Geoff James. Solution Support, UK

Is exclusion really the last resort?

When all else fails to make a student do as they should in school, exclusion has come to

be accepted as the last resort. In the absence of anything else worth trying, it's a cry of

despair and hopelessness on both sides, the excluding and the excluded. But suppose it

were only so because of the lack of a real inclusive alternative, something different,

something truly educational that staff in schools could do to make sure students who

struggle are kept safely in their own community, in school? Solutions Focused coaching

is that difference that is among a difference, a way of structuring the kindness staff show

to students when things are going well, applied to those for whom things aren't going so

well. Timely, straightforward, preventative and building the strengths all children need to

go happily towards their futures.

Svea van der Hoorn. Solution-focused Futures, South Africa

Restoring Dignity via Coping Talk - the neglected cousin of Change Talk

When I crossed from the world of SFBT into the world of SF Brief Coaching, I noticed a

love affair with creating forward movement. I noticed too that for some clients all that

focus on forward movement and improvement was experienced as solution-forcing. Re-

visiting Bill O'Hanlon's Change Talk (Change 101) I started to play with the idea that

perhaps we needed to add Coping Talk to what we offered clients, especially those facing

hardship and adversity.

Drawing on my years of working with clients living in chaos and uncertainty during the

political transition in South Africa, I remembered how significantly our conversations

about coping contributed to restoring dignity.

In this talk, I’ll share more about how worthwhile it can be to place Coping Talk centre

stage, rather than leave it languishing in the wings of people’s lives.

I’ll refer to examples of Coping Talk in coaching contexts – when talking with CEOs

facing turbulence, CFOs facing pressure to slash people and budgets, and employees

who feel they have little reason to hope that they can do more than survive their daily

working lives.

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Jody Merelle. Kaarisilta Therapy and Coaching, Finland

Bad things happen: using SF tools to remain positive in times of crisis

The aim of the talk is to provide a snappy summary of SF tools which are of particular

use in times of personal crisis.

The story is a personal one. After ten years as a family law barrister I requalified as an

SF coach and therapist and in November 2015 was ready to launch my own practice.

However, life is unpredictable. Just five days later I was involved in a serious car crash in

which I almost died. With two broken legs I would have to spend the next three months

in a wheelchair and learn to walk again three times. Over the past year the question I

have been most commonly asked was "How come you're still so positive?" The answer is

through the daily use of SF tools from the very moment of impact. In this talk I would

like to share my very personal story of his to use SF tools to remain positive during a

time of crisis.

Thomas Hirschmann. UKASFP and ASC (Austrian Solution Circle)

OASIS: Experiences with a solution focused in-patient programme for patients

suffering from cancer

The OASIS-model was first introduced at the EBTA 2015 in Vienna and suggests a

practical framework for dealing with long lasting or permanent burdens like chronic

illness, unemployment or the care for high-maintenance family members.

The term OASIS is used on the one hand as a metaphor for a location where you can feel

comfortable and secure in spite of surroundings which may appear threatening and

hostile. On the other hand it represents an acronym for a 5 step programme composed

of the following keywords:

O rientation

A spired future

S trengths and resources

I ntegration to everyday life

S elf-reliance and signs

This concept was mainly inspired by ideas and experiences originating from several

BRIEF summer schools in London and from fruitful discussions with experienced solution

focused practitioners.

With this talk an account will be given of the experiences made with the implementation

of the OASIS model in a rehabilitation clinic as a programme for patients suffering from

cancer. Furthermore the benefits of this solution focused approach in dealing with the

possibilities and restrictions of an in-patient setting will be discussed.

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Elliott Connie. BRIEF International

Solution focused brief therapy: Mastering the questions as a language

This workshop will present the importance of viewing solution focused brief therapy

(SFBT) as a language approach rather than simply a set of techniques. The presenter will

discuss how to structure a full session and will provide a live demonstration of how to

fluently use SFBT language to create change. The presenter will integrate the current

research that identifies SFBT as evidence-based and will field questions from audience

participants.

Educational Objectives

Participants will understand the value of viewing SFBT as a language approach and how

this perspective is different than a set of techniques.

Participants will become familiar with how to co-construct a SFBT conversation with their

clients.

Participants will understand the structure of SFBT sessions and how to use the client’s

language to help create change.

Jody Merelle Kaarisilta Therapy and Coaching, Finland

A Beginners's Guide to the Solution-Focused World

The aim of this two-hour workshop is to leave participants feeling inspired about the

world of SF practice and having a solid understanding of its diverse applications. I hope

to introduce the principles and tenets of solution-focused practice using humour, case

studies and practical illustrations.

Themes to be covered :-

What is SF practice? Why do we need it and how does it differ from traditional forms of

psychotherapeutic practice?

A brief account of the origins and history of SF practice.

My personal introduction to the SF world and why I believe in it so passionately (having

re-trained as a SF therapist after dealing with crisis situations for ten years as a family

law barrister)

Introduction of the main principles of Sf work including case studies and practical

examples (ie client centered approach, equal partnership, forward-looking,

deconstruction unnecessary for change, looking for exceptions, each client comes with

his/her own resources and solutions, small steps often enough for significant change etc)

Some of SF's tools. Miracle question, Scaling, Best Hopes, What is already going well?

My own adapted SF tool - "The Magic Box"

If appropriate (space and time allowing) demonstration of using scaling to identify a next

step towards achieving a goal.

Questions and Answers are welcome throughout the session

Distribution of a reading/resources list for those interested in further study.

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Guy Shennan Guy Shennan Associates, UK and Barry Golten Goldstein Coaching and

Therapy, UK

“We don’t do therapy here…” Bringing solution-focused ideas into support

settings

"I had to sort Sarah’s money out first, otherwise she wouldn’t have responded. After it

was sorted, I said to her I had been on some training the previous week, and I wanted

to have a quick chat, as I thought it may help her to feel better…"*

How do you do solution-focused brief therapy when you’re providing support? Maybe you

don’t? Can support workers do therapy? Maybe on some occasions support work can

consist of a focus on helping change to happen, in which cases it makes sense to begin a

conversation during this work with ‘What’s better?’ Much of the time though it might fit

more for the worker providing ongoing support to begin with another question, such as

‘What have you been doing that’s been good for you since we last met?’

This is just one example of how solution-focused therapy can be translated into solution-

focused support, and in this workshop we will consider other ways in which support

workers can fit solution-focused thinking to agency or funder requirements which might

initially seem to hinder the use of the approach.

Barry works in a housing support setting and Guy’s first paid social care job was as a

support worker in a mental health day centre, and they have both been grappling with

the translation of solution-focused therapy into solution-focused support, as practitioners

and trainers, for a number of years.

If you’re grappling with the same issue, or think it might be useful to begin to, then

come along to this workshop, and we can grapple together!

*From Guy’s book, Solution-Focused Practice (2014)

John Brooker. Yes! And…, UK

Does a Solution Focus approach energise an organisation?

In this interactive and participative workshop we will explore the above question. My

belief is that SF does energise an organisation; how might we start to demonstrate this?

Consider that an “organisation” can be as few as two people through to an astonishing

2.1 million in Walmart or 3.2 million in the US Department of Defense. How do you

energise an organisation of 3.2 million people? That is daunting. However, every

organisation has one thing in common, they are made up of individuals.

In the SF world we have lots of evidence that SF energises individuals and many cases

that show SF energises teams. This energy comes from different SF sources, e.g.

• The interaction of individuals with other individuals, of teams with other teams

• The shaping of the future

• The search for what is working

• The constructive beliefs of the coach and facilitator etc.

You will discuss what these SF sources are, how each SF source might energise people

and how we might expand this energy from the individual and teams to the whole

organisation.

If time, we will describe an energised organisation and discuss if our attitude of “every

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situation is different” means that each organisation must design this for themselves.

Bring an open mind, a pen and paper and willingness to participate – a sense of humour

is also welcome.

Jonathan Casemore. Conwy social services, UK

Problem free talk and best hopes in social work

Presentation & discussion:

• We are thinking about the person not the problem.

• It is a more secure platform for change.

• Thinking about Risk Management - what will help?

• Miracle question/Preferred Future - What would Helping to talk about.... what it would

look like if things were different.

• Identifying what is already working/there and building on it.

• The families are experts in their lives.

A presentation to show how problem free talk can focus people with chronic issues to

have hope. Using solution focused skills to navigate children and families involved in

child protection, drugs & alcohol, domestic violence and offending behaviour towards

positive goals. Turning around problem focused thoughts with both clients and other

professionals working with the clients as quickly as we can. Embracing the client and

trusting them to use their own strengths and resources to solve the issues presented.

Looking at the underlying principles and approaches with the solution focused therapy

model, delivering outcome focused interventions. I will present using discussion and

reflection around using solution focused skills. We will look at how solution focused skills

are used within people work and how this approach empowers the worker and the client.

I have been working with children and families for over 20 years. I have used solution

focused skills throughout my career. My work has been varied from front line child

protection, residential children’s homes, youth justice, fostering and adoption. I am

currently a consultant social worker in a team that uses BSFT in daily practice and it is

written into our interventions. I will be presenting at the SF World Conference, Germany

September 2017.

Stephan Natynczuk My Big Adventure CIC, UK

Putting SF talk into the walk: Taking SF outdoors

SF conversations are not just for sessions sat indoors. In this workshop you are invited

to experiment with extending your SF practice outdoors as a walk and talk (weather

permitting). This workshop is aimed at practitioners who would like to work outdoors

using SF conversations for counselling, coaching or supervision. The leader has many

years experience using SF in a diverse range of environments as an Adventure

Therapist, though nothing extreme is anticipated for this workshop.

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Suzi Curtis, Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust Kidge Burns Solution Focused

Practitioner and Martin Bohn Solution Focused Practitioner

Nailing jelly to the wall: lessons from developing the UKASFP accreditation

system

In this interactive workshop, led by two UKASFP accreditors (Martin and Kidge) and the

accreditation lead (Suzi), participants will be invited to time-travel with us back to June

2013, when the UKASFP Accreditation Working Party first came together to tackle the

task of devising a new accreditation system to meet the requirements of our members.

Working in small teams, you will be asked to come up with your own answers to the

question:

“What is accreditable solution-focused practice and how do we know it when we see it?”

The facilitators will then share with you the story of the UKASFP Accreditation system,

the discussions and dilemmas we faced and the way in which the final product emerged

as something we all feel very proud of.

The workshop will offer the opportunity for practitioners to learn how they can go about

becoming accredited and to offer their thoughts on how we might make the UKASFP

Accreditation system something which is widely recognised and accepted as a badge of

quality and consistency in the contexts in which they work.

Please note that the workshop will start from the premise – as we did back in June 2013

– that a system of accreditation for practitioners is something that UKASFP members

want, so we will not be revisiting the arguments for or against such a system. Instead

we will be sharing with you the features of the UKASFP system that we believe make it

uniquely rigorous and thorough, and also the insights we gained from our journey.

Thomas Hirschmann UKASFP and ASC (Austrian Solution Circle)

Scaling with your senses: A creative approach for noticing progress

Does a “10” on your scale taste more like a cup of Earl Grey or more like a Cherry

Cheese Cake? How might a “5” sound different from a “4”? Which photo or picture could

represent a next tiny step forward?

This will be a workshop in the truest sense of the word: you won’t only have the

opportunity to experience progress with all your senses but also to create your own

visual and acoustical scales. If you want to experiment in a creative and playful way and

develop new ideas for your work with clients, your participation and your contributions

will be highly appreciated!

With the use of sensory scales, abstract terms and feelings can be translated into

concrete and tangible representations which make changes observable. Furthermore the

possibilities to perceive and describe even small differences are being widened by this

non-verbal approach.

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Geoff James The Solution Focused Coach, UK

Having a laugh - the smile at the heart of SF conversations. Or the chocolate effect - why laughing with the tiger makes both of you happier. And the importance of keeping the beliefs of resourcefulness, hope and success in mind. An interactive session on the practice of problem-free talk, the idea of prediction and how it works to set up SF engagement. Illustrated by case evidence.

John Wheeler John Wheeler Solutions, UK

Catching butterflies: SF conversations with young children

Adults sometimes need to think outside of the box. In contrast, younger children often

haven't even learned what the box is yet, and can be gifted with unrestricted

imagination. Training practitioners in SF Practice, however, has drawn my attention to

culturally based assumptions that risk restricting the extent to which young children are

asked about their ideas when change is being discussed. In this workshop I will show an

example of SF Practice with a 6 year old which has often proved to be controversial,

invite participants to reflect on the assumptions about young children that inform their

practice, share the thinking that encourages me to talk to young children and share

feedback that was given by the boy and his mother when he was older, as part of a

small research study.

Closing plenary

Jonas Wells National Network of Coordination Agencies, Sweden

The Aesthetics of Keeping SF as Simple as Possible: Sharing Stories and a Space

for Reflections

I'd like to invite workshop participants on the theme of sharing stories from our own

work, where we did as little as possible but we still assume we contributed to a

significant difference. Is there an aesthetics to this work? If so, what does it look like?

How do you see and/or experience it? What is noticeable in your own work? I will start

off the workshop, on a hopeful note, that we can hold a space for each other where we

can share stories and muse over our reflections on this theme. I will share a story or

more from my own work in Sweden working with facilitating better forms of collaboration

between public organisations for better outcomes for people with long-term benefits.

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Local information about Hatfield and Beales Hotel

The conference venue is Beales Hotel, Comet Way, Hatfield AL10 9NG,

http://www.bealeshotels.co.uk/hatfield. Tel 01707 288 500.

Getting there

The hotel has plenty of free parking. It is situated about 10 minutes by car (or 25

minutes walk) from Hatfield railway station. A taxi from Hatfield railway station will cost

about £5. Trains run to Hatfield from London’s Kings Cross station every 30 minutes,

with the journey taking around 25 minutes.

Evening rendezvous and get-together

The bar at Beales is nice but rather small. We therefore plan to meet in the

neighbouring Harpsfield Hall pub (Wetherspoons), 13a Parkhouse Court, Hatfield AL10

9RQ, a spacious venue with modestly priced food and drink available. There are plenty

of alternative restaurants in the Galleria shopping centre across Comet Way, and the

Everest Spice Lounge offers cracking Indian/Nepali food 100m north along the road.