The Solution Focused Brief Therapy Diamond

A guide for clinicians (both beginner or seasoned professional) to understand the philosophy and practical steps of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) to maximize their effectiveness with any client, written by two respected and innovative experts in the field. Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a therapeutic approach that focuses on the client’s hoped-for future instead of their ongoing problems. Elliott E. Connie and Adam S. Froerer are the founders of The Solution Focused Universe and are two of the most respected and innovative experts in their field. Together, they have developed the Diamond model—a framework of SFBT skills and tools designed to guide a clinician through each session of therapy—which is one of the biggest innovations in the field of solution focused brief therapy. This is a practical guide for any clinician (beginner or seasoned professional) to understand the philosophy and practical steps of conducting an SFBT session. Among the topics discussed: How to presuppose the best in your client How to trust your client’s capability The stance clinicians should adopt to be effective solution focused practitioners The art of asking meaningful questions The importance of autonomy This book also includes tools to help practitioners implement this approach, including a complete SFBT session with editorial comments that illustrate the thinking that goes into constructing a session, as well as 101 solution focused questions that practitioners can use. Connie and Froerer see their Diamond model as life-changing for all parties involved. They write, “This work is transformative not only for clients but also for you. When you view your clients as capable and strong, it changes you—and how you do your job. Your perceptions directly impact your actions.”

A guide for clinicians to understand the philosophy and practical steps of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) to maximize their effectiveness with any client.

This book provides a concise and jargon-free guide to the thinking and practice of this exciting approach, enabling people to make changes in their lives in the shortest possible time.

What is Solution-Focused Therapy? Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) is a unique, goal-directed therapy aimed at helping clients regain autonomy by determining and achieving their own goals. Solution focused therapists encourage clients to focus on solutions, not problems, and help clients effectively plan how to reach their goals. Unlike other therapies, SFT holds an abiding belief in clients' abilities to know what is best for them, rather than have a therapist tell them. Why this book? This book not only provides an overview of the Solution Focused therapy model, its basic tenets, and theories; it also presents intimate interviews with expert practitioners-all of whom use SFT in their own practice. To this end, the book offers a wealth of insight into the theory and practice of SFT, to help practitioners decide whether SFT is right for them and their clients. These experts offer details of their apprehensions, goals, breakthroughs, and overall experiences with the therapy. The team of expert contributors includes Eve Lipchik, Yvonne Dolan, Alasdair Macdonald, Thorana Nelson, and many more. Questions the experts address include: How did you discover that SFT was the model that fit your clients' needs? What characteristics of this model drew you towards it? How has SFT impacted your personal life? What is it about SFT that makes it so effective? What are your favorite cases and how did they affect your work as a therapist?

A practical guide to becoming solution-focused and construction solutions in brief therapy. At the core of the book is a sequence of skill-building chapters that cover all aspects of construction solutions. Each chapter explains and demonstrates a particular skill with discussion and exercises.

The one-of-a-kind book that provides training exercises illustrating solution-focused brief therapy! As we recognize our own problem behavior in our lives, most of us struggle for ways to change it. Solution-focused brief therapy is the highly effective practice that works by changing concentration from ’problem’ behavior to ’solution’ behavior in just a few sessions. Education and Training in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy presents articles, essays, and a multitude of exercises that explain this unique type of therapy with an eye toward helping readers to use the ideas for use in their own training and practice. Detailed descriptions of training workshops and exercises spotlight the experiences of SFBT therapists to illuminate in-depth basic concepts and strategies. Education and Training in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy relies on two fundamental ideas, that of a therapist discovering and reinforcing a clients’ existing solutions and exceptions to the problem. Expert trainers discuss strategies that work for training and practicing Solution-focused brief therapy. Several exercises for clients are examined, as well as exercises for the training and supervision of other practitioners learning the process. Exercises include The Name Game, the Complaining Exercise, Inside and Outside, the ’Deck of Trumps,’ and the Solution-Focused Scavenger Hunt. Each chapter explains the circumstances in which to use each exercise, the best ways to enhance effectiveness, and how to stay on track in the teaching or training. This one-of-a-kind book includes helpful tables, thorough questionnaires, penetrating case studies, and each chapter is extensively referenced. Education and Training in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy discusses brief therapy principles such as: negotiating goals engagement through complimenting future orientation language should be imaginative and positive explanations and actions taken to solve problems are interconnected challenging the perceived causes of problems reframing the problem so that it becomes a friend acknowledgement and acceptance of client Education and Training in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy brings together essential ideas, suggestions, strategies, and exercises for solution-focused brief therapy training, making this an invaluable resource for solution-focused brief therapists and therapists who teach and train this form of therapy.

`This well-structured book should prove a leading text in the solution-focused therapy (SFT) world and will serve as an excellent overview of SFT on those training courses integratively oriented towards the immediate needs of many services and their clients. This book will please both SFT aficionados and those, like me, who are sceptical but open to some persuasion. The author has done a superb job of representing SFT in an up-to-date, rigorous and accessible way, and has, incidentally, shown what a concise text on any ′core theoretical model′ should look like′ - Colin Feltham, Therapy Today `Packed full of ideas and exercises for trainers and therapists. An essential read for professionals wishing to develop their solution-focused practice. Alasdair communicates the wisdom accumulated over years as a practitioner, researcher and enthusiast for the solution-focused approach′ - Bill O′Connell Director of Training with Focus on Solutions Limited, Birmingham ′Alasdair MacDonald has produced a landmark in the development of solution-focused approaches. He brings together the history, research and evidence for SF practice with many practical strategies for contexts from severe mental health cases to workplace conflict. The book is packed with concise insights, connections and thought-provoking questions presented with great authority and clarity′ - Mark McKergow PhD MBA, author of The Solutions Focus: The SIMPLE Way to Positive Change, and co-founder of SolWorld `Alasdair′s book is a welcome addition to the literature in the field of ′Solution Focused Brief Therapy′. His wealth of experience in this approach to therapy is effectively communicated through simple explanations of solution focused skills and useful examples of therapist-client interactions that illustrate implementation. The book contributes and builds upon the existing literature. The chapter regarding ethical considerations is unique for a book outlining this therapeutic approach, and the chapter exploring the status of SFBT research is contemporary and comprehensive. Alasdair′s book will be a useful resource for those students training in the SFBT approach′ - Fred Ruddick Senior Lecturer (Mental Health Studies) RMN,RGN,Advanced Dip Counselling, MA Counselling `This book by Alasdair Macdonald provides an interesting and useful introduction to solution focused brief therapy from the perspective of a well-respected consultant psychiatrist. The chapters on research and the history of brief therapy will be valued by experienced solution focused practitioners and provides an excellent picture of the current place of solution focused brief therapy in contemporary mental health practice′ - Rayya Ghul, co-author of Creating Positive Futures: Solution Focused Recovery from Mental Distress `Alasdair has made a particular and important contribution to the world of solution-focused brief therapy through his long-standing interest in research. This interest, and his background in adult mental health work, are both reflected in this book thereby setting it apart from other introductions to the approach. At a time when resources are tight and professionals under pressure this book highlights the particular relevance and flexibility of the solution-focused approach which can be drawn upon usefully by clinicians and managers alike′ - Evan George,. BRIEF, London Solution-focused therapy is a relatively new, but strongly supported and growing approach. Solution-Focused Therapy: Theory, Research & Practice contains an overview of current research in the area and an account of the use of solution-focused approaches in various relevant therapeutic situations. As well as outlining the model and basic principles, the text also summarises the evidence base for solution-focused therapy, discusses ethical issues and includes a series of chapters on applications of the approach with illustrative case studies. A specific feature of this book is its use with acute and long-term mental illness, and the application of the method to a variety of situations in management and in resolving disagreements. A helpful resource for experienced practitioners, Solution-Focused Therapy: Theory, Research & Practice also contains instructional material and guidance and is thus an accessible and valuable text for trainees. Dr Alasdair J. Macdonald has been a Consultant Psychiatrist in the NHS since 1980 and currently holds an honorary contract with North Dorset Primary Care Trust. He is the Research Coordinator and former President and Secretary of the European Brief Therapy Association, and is currently a psychotherapist and supervisor in private practice in Dorset.

Doing What Works in Brief Therapy: A Strategic Solution Focused Approach is both a set of procedures for the therapist and a philosophy– one that is shared with clients and one that guides the work of the therapist. This second edition continues its excellence in offering clinicians a guide to doing what works in brief therapy- for whom, and when and how to use it. Psychotherapy that follows these guidelines validates the client’s most important concerns – and it often turns out to be surprisingly brief. Author, Ellen Quick integrates strategic and solution focused therapy and includes guidelines for tailoring technique and interventions to client characteristics and preferences. With clinically rich examples throughout, this book offers applications for couples, including indications for individual or conjoint sessions. Chapter summaries highlighting key points Presents ways of eliciting what clients most want to remember Describes the "Doing What Works Group," including outcome research findings and all materials needed to run the group Addresses the relationship among the positive psychology movement and this approach and the potential for collaboration Emphasizes an acceptance-based stance and how acceptance commonly leads to change Proposes that "doing what works and changing what doesn't" can provide a transtheoretical perspective for therapists of any orientation