Podcast - Halifax Brief Therapy

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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 note how even sitting in each other's sessions can be a useful learning experience. Finally, we note the benefits that can come from reviewing audio or video recordings of your work with clients.

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.

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, 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.