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UKASFP members are invited to contribute a blog, video, or podcast - contact admin@ukasfp.org Blogs, interviews, podcasts and other resources are published, or re-published, by the UKASFP to help promote the development of Solution Focused Practice across the SF community. Publication does not indicate a policy position on the part of the UKASFP, or constitute an endorsement of the practice described or of the services of the author. UKASFP does not publish material from members or non-members that has an explicit marketing or commercial purpose, or that is critical of different approaches to SF practice. A series of Solution Focus podcasts can also be found on this page
Reflections on co-creating a Solution Focused Conference Susannah Stobart, Conference Chairperson 2023 Two weeks have rolled by since the end of the UKASFP conference, in Oxford, and my memories are sadly becoming slightly less vivid. However, inspired by Abi and Barry’s use of the SF framework and ‘geed up’ by Guy Shennan’s words “SF practitioners just get on with it” I am putting fingers to the keyboard and have posed myself some questions. Read Susannah's reflections here Posted 23/07/2023
Reflections on delivering the UKASFP Conference 2023 workshop Strengthening Your Internal SF Practitioner Barry Golten & Abi Boughton-Thomas When a blog post was requested by the conference organisers, we thought we might practise what we preached at the conference - we generated a list of SF questions to aid our reflections, and separately responded to them in written format. Read Abi & Barry's reflections here See more about the UKASFP Conference 2023 here Posted 22/07/2023
Many in the SF Community were saddened to hear of passing of Andrew Callcott on Monday 23rd January having had cancer for the last three years. Andrew was a long standing Member of UKASFP and served as Chair and Director. Read memories of Andrew from the Solution Focused community here Posted 11/02/2023
The Origins and Development of Solution Focused Brief Therapy and the Solution Focused Approach Elaine Way from the Solution Focused Studio takes a closer look into the origins and development of the Solution Focused Approach. Celebrating and highlighting some of the talented and innovative individuals involved, the video explores the psychological theories and post-modern philosophy underpinning the creation of Solution Focused Brief Therapy. Posted 22/10/2022
Living well with Cancer: a Solution-Focused Approach....a.k.a. how to be 'undead A new book by Dr. Dominic Bray It's one thing to be offered months, even years of life from clever cancer treatments. It's quite another to benefit from them. As Socrates taught us, it is not life, but good life, that is to be chiefly valued. Or as E. E. Cummings put it, 'Unbeing dead isn't being alive'. But how may becoming fully alive become a reality? Posted 22/12/2022
How to get the best from people - including yourself A six-part series for UKASFP, by Paul Z Jackson and Janine Waldman, The Solutions Focus. Part 6 - How to give feedback without demotivating people You say those seven magic words: ‘I want to give you some feedback.’ And your team member automatically assumes it’s going to be negative, puts on their defensive armour stance, and - crucially - stops listening. Suppose instead that the phrase was followed by something much more palatable - feedback that didn’t demotivate but prompted them to do a better job. Posted 30/07/2022
How to get the best from people - including yourself - part 5 A six-part series for UKASFP, by Paul Z Jackson and Janine Waldman, The Solutions Focus. Part 5 - Top talent + terrible attitude: From problem to performance “Dear Solutions Focus, What do you do when a member of your team has talent but their attitude stinks?” Meet Lucy, an experienced senior manager in a city IT and software company. Her manager approached us and asked us if we could ‘fix' Lucy. He explained that while Lucy was good at what she did, her attitude was terrible. The pressing problem was that she was rude to people. She was also dismissive towards company initiatives. As a result she was continually overlooked for promotion. Regardless of how much they valued her skills, if her attitude didn’t improve, it would be time for her to move on. We followed a three-step process to turn things around. Posted 29/05/2022
What exactly is ‘Solution Focused’ anyway? By Paul Wiggins Working using a Solution Focused (SF) approach is incredible. It’s a real privilege to meet with families and have respectful and acknowledging conversations with them. Above all else, it’s magical to then hear people explain the changes they have made for themselves after such conversations. It’s amazing. Perhaps the word conversation is a stretch. We seldom make suggestions or talk about ourselves. It’s not two-way in that sense. Mostly we acknowledge and ask quite specific types of questions. This is our small role in the ‘change process’, it is a far cry from ‘solving’ other people’s problems. In SF work, our families rightly get the credit for all their impressive changes. I’m so passionate about the approach that I feel a bit ridiculous for wondering….. …What is it? Posted 30/04/2022
How to get the best from people - including yourself - part 4 A six-part series for UKASFP, by Paul Z Jackson and Janine Waldman, The Solutions Focus. How to get from blue to cheerful You’re having a tough day, month or even a year. You’re working remotely and it’s difficult to communicate well with your team. There’s more uncertainty around what’s happening as every day brings a new challenge or unanswered questions. Things are more difficult than before, and you notice it’s making you miserable. There’s a whole genre of music dedicated to expressing how unhappy we can feel. As Elton John observed, ‘I guess that’s why they call it The Blues’. Posted 03/01/2022
UKASFP Interview: Ayse Adil talks about her work at Family Based Solutions with Andrew Gibson Family Based Solutions formerly known as PAARS (parent abuse and reconciliation service) began as a result of three founders coming across parent abuse in their role as secondary school support workers. It was apparent that the issue did not fit the threshold for social care involvement and was not always dealt with by the police in a way that was useful. Family Based Solutions work with families using the solution focused approach which gives the family full control in the direction of the work and each family member has a part to play in moving the family towards their preferred future. More information about Family Based Solutions can be found here See also FSB Chat, a wide ranging collection of video interviews with Solution Focused practitioners Andrew Gibson is a Solution Focused business coach based in Leeds, author of the books ‘What’s Your URP?’ or ‘Make Life Simple,' and can be contacted via his website Posted 06/12/2021
How to get the best from people - including yourself - part 3 A six-part series for UKASFP, by Paul Z Jackson and Janine Waldman, The Solutions Focus. How to turn failure into progress We are always under pressure to deliver results. As leaders and managers, we’re expected to support our staff and lead multifaceted projects. We want to do a great job and many of us tend to beat ourselves up when something doesn’t go to plan Posted 21/10/2021
How to get the best from people - including yourself - Part 2 A six-part series for UKASFP, by Paul Z Jackson and Janine Waldman, The Solutions Focus. The ‘X’ Factor - Finding value in the little things that matter to your colleagues You are the proud owner of a new chest of drawers. You go to look inside and the handle falls off, so the drawer just won’t open. This is especially frustrating as you built it yourself from a flat-pack kit. You recall you did it in a rush, finishing by throwing away all the ‘unnecessary’ bits away with the packaging as you admired the grand new structure. It turns out you discarded a small screw - with big consequences. Similarly in conversations with your colleagues, if you are in a hurry to get things done, you risk missing valuable nuggets, and a week later your project falls apart. Posted 03/10/2021
How to get the best from people - including yourself Part 1 Paul Z Jackson and Janine Waldman, The Solutions Focus. How do you engage the disengaged? What do you do when the people you most need to be involved for a project to succeed don’t get engaged, because they feel excluded? That was the problem facing Tara, a teacher we met when introducing solution-focused (SF) working to groups of educators and managers in five Further Education colleges in the UK. Posted 19/09/2021
Blending Solution Focus Therapy & Hypnotherapy Part 3: Solution-Focused Ericksonian Hypnotherapy - an inclusive paradigm or hybrid practice? by Paul Avard Erickson and Rossi wrote that suggestion ‘[…] is a process of evoking and utilizing potentials and life experience that are already present […] but perhaps outside their (the client’s) usual range of control. Therapeutic suggestion helps patients (sic) gain access to their own associations and abilities to solve their own problems[…]’. However, the word ‘suggestion’ should not be read as we might commonly understand it, thus the therapist does not ‘know’ what the client should, must or ought to do. In point of fact, Erickson frequently did not know why a client had come to see him anyway; furthermore, he recognised that they knew why they were in his company, and he credited them with this fact and figured they would also know how to fix the issue that brought them to him. Posted 05/09/2021
Solution Focus support in housing crisis Video of an online conversation led by Jim Bird-Waddington, Chief Executive of Goleudy housing crisis charity in South Wales. Goleudy clients and solution focused practitioners discuss the 'Let's Keep Talking' service, and how it has helped.'Let's Keep Talking' is a mental health telephone support service run by volunteers, based in Liverpool. Watch here Posted here on 29/08/2021, originally posted at Goleudy | Goleudy and ‘Let’s Keep Talking’
Blending Solution Focus Therapy & Hypnotherapy and / or Mindfulness - Part 2: Solution Focused Hypnotherapy By Paul Avard In common, I hope, with most Ericksonian hypnotherapists, I have no 'expectations' regarding my clients, about what they bring to the table, or choose to leave at home. This includes, but is not limited to, knowing what the issue(s) they are struggling with is. The reason that Erickson thought like this is really, really simple... he believed "[...] people have within them the natural abilities to overcome difficulties, to resolve problems, to go into a trance and to have all of the trance phenomena [...]"1 that they need for a resolution. Clients only require the space and time to access what they seek. We know this from our daily, ‘unblended’, therapeutic interventions; however, it seems to me to be missing a trick if we can work with clients and allow them to access all these unused, unrecognised resources? Not sure what others think, any thoughts anyone?
The Unfolding life: An appreciative view of the therapeutic relationship (Abridged) By Mike Moss “People are just as wonderful as sunsets, if I can let them be. In fact, perhaps the reason we can appreciate the sunset is that we cannot control it. When I look at a sunset as I did the other evening, I don’t find myself saying, ‘Soften the orange a little on the right-hand corner, and put a bit more purple along the base, and use a little more pink in the cloud colour’. I don’t do that. I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch it with awe as it unfolds”. (Rogers, 1980, p.22) I first came across the concepts of solution focused thinking around 20 years ago when I was a youth worker and learned people could adopt an alternative outlook. Rather than focusing on what was not working, which often seemed to be the case in my experience, I learned I might help people better by focussing on what was working for them. I was also intrigued by the notion that the way we look at things can influence our experience, and if we can alter our perspective, no matter how small, we might change that experience.
Blending Solution Focus Brief Therapy & Hypnotherapy and / or Mindfulness Part 1 By Paul Avard I have to be honest that I almost baulked at using the title I have for this blog-post. It was the 'Blended' bit that gave me pause for thought, in case you were wondering. However, since it's the word 'blending' that makes sense of what I'm going to talk about, it makes sense to leave it in. I'm guessing that solution focus purists might not be best pleased at the suggestion that our beloved therapeutic, coaching, supervision and mentoring approach to helping individuals with their worries and stressors be 'blended' with anything. After all it has served us well for the past however many years since it emerged from MRI.
Blog - Solution Focused Hypnotherapy in Sport By Melanie Cook 'In 2010 I trained in Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) at the Clifton Practice in Bristol with David Newton. During my initial training, the ex-world middleweight boxing champion, Glen Catley (now practicing in SFH), came to the Clifton Practice to present a workshop on using SFH to improve sports performance. At the presentation he talked about how he had become the world champion boxer with the help of David Newton, my teacher, as his personal hypnotherapist. It was David Newton and Susan Rodrigues at the Clifton Practice who taught me most of what I practice today, which is a combination of SFH and SFBT or maybe now ‘Solution Focused Practice’ with a few NLP and integrative techniques thrown in.'
Blog - My experiences with SF whilst in lockdown By Will Reed My name is Will Reed and I am 18 years old. I was due to sit my A levels this year, however obviously the situation has changed since! Throughout my two years in sixth form, there was a big push on mental health, and I was able to get involved in many things such as talking at assemblies, promoting an open and equal environment for all, and getting involved with setting up a student led mental health team. Once the team had grown and organised further assemblies for the entire school, we were all lucky enough to receive some training in Solution Focussed practice.
Blog - Lockdown in New Zealand Part 1 By Emily Pasley The original Maori name for Waiheke was apparently Te Motu-arai-roa “The long sheltering Island” I think I chose well to swiftly move here upon knowledge of a deadly virus, forcing the world to halt. I was fortunate enough to be exploring the beautiful country that is New Zealand when the pandemic hit. I had a flight booked back to the UK in March but decided not take it due the risks. I asked myself in my panicked state, “What is my best hope” in this current global crisis and it was to stay exactly where I was on an Island called Waiheke.
Blog - Confessions of a Person-Centred Therapist Learning SFBT By David Blowers I've recently completed a gruelling eight-year marathon in person-centred psychotherapy training, and shortly after gaining my UKCP registration I was lucky enough to find a counselling job for which I would need to learn SFBT. I was keen to learn a new modality - for years I had been curious about trying a different way. I'm still pretty green, but I attended BRIEF's two-day introduction, read a lot, watched a lot of videos, and practiced SFBT for about 200 hours. I thought I'd share some of my initial thoughts and would welcome dialogue.
By Anne Boulton A few years ago when I was still fairly new to solution focused therapy and just starting my training it occurred to me that particular year I would add in a couple of personal messages, compliments or appreciations in my daughter’s advent calendar which was a yearly home-made tradition since she was 4 years old. My thinking at the time was that I would see how “appreciations” would have an impact on her behaviour. I recognise now that in my inexperience and with hindsight I was probably aiming to re enforce “Good” behaviour and therefore had my own agenda and not entirely following the tenants of solution focused practice.
If you would like to contribute a blog for the UKASFP website, please contact us at admin@ukasfp.org |
06/11/2025
Volta - UKASFP meet-up
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