Gerry Andrews, Amanda Strevett-Smith  

"Playing at the Edges"

Can you be solution-focused without being a Solution-focused Practitioner?

Examples from our life's work 

Gerry Andrews is a Body-Mind coach and massage therapist specialising in trauma and chronic pain, who uses a Solution-focussed, strength-based approach in his work with individual clients. Gerry has also worked as an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Worker in inner city communities in Leeds and Bradford, and has delivered training in ABCD nationally and internationally. Gerry also draws from his past experience as a Community Development Consultant, Neighbourhood Manager, Community Mediator, Customer Relations Manager and Town Planner.

gerryandrews@live.co.uk

www.gerryandrews.co.uk

Amanda Strevett-Smith, an actor and a drama therapist, is the Founder and Director of Turnways Therapies using a range of creative psychotherapies (drama, art, dance, music) to work with young people and their families to support positive outcomes and heal from trauma and distress. 

We intend to create a participatory space using the Gold-fish Bowl technique where my co-presenter, Amanda Strevett-Smith and I will hold a conversation about how we have seen Solution-focussed practices in action in our various fields of work. We will be drawing examples from therapy, 1-2-1 coaching and community development. While we will not be talking specifically about Solution-focused practice, we aim to show how this is in fact fundamental to many areas of our work.

We want to then invite the audience to comment on what they have heard about our work experiences and share any insights they may be able to add as part of a wider conversation about the broader application of Solution-focused practice as an underpinning process. 

Participants will gain a deeper appreciation of Solution-focused practice being much more about a mindset rather than a set of techniques or specific practice.

Participants will also be able to hear from a wide range of applications of Solution-focused practice and have the chance to add their voice to cross-fertilise across professional boundaries. 

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