The solution focused toolkit

I believe that solution focused workers don't need to be therapists and they don't need problems to solve. Having had comments both in person and online about my attitude towards traditional therapists and their methods I thought it worth some clarity. I often quote in sessions my Aunt Betty, of course Aunt Betty doesn't exist in reality as a person but she does exist. In fact Aunt Betty might even be you. So before I explain let me tell you something about Aunt Betty. She is an extremely positive person, she is someone who is always fun and reassuring to be around. In a crisis it's aunt betty who remains calm and focuses on the positive. In fact when things go wrong in life then it's Aunt Betty that people gravitate to. People who talk to aunt betty about problems always come away feeling more upbeat and positive about a solution, the problem seems smaller and sometimes afterwards it seems to evaporate all by itself. The funny thing about Aunt Betty is this. She never gives advice or instruction or any of those things. Yes Aunt Betty will tell stories or mention her experiences but never directs them at anyone. Whenever I talk about Aunt Betty then I'm talking about any one of our clients, the social workers, teachers and residential workers whom we train in solution focused working. As i said earlier I could be talking about you. So here's the thing. Aunt Betty isn't trained in the solution focused approach, she certainly never did any therapeutic training either formal or informal. She has no degree's and wouldn't know the first thing about therapy. She has no experience and never wrote a book or paper. However, let me ask you a question Is she the kind of person that you'd prefer to approach in a crisis? Get your PDF here Download the Ebook free here. www.theactionfactory.com/free-book

I suffer from solution focused bias, I see it everywhere. Yesterday I was reading a very old book called the power of the subconscious mind by Dr John Murphy. It was first published in 1963. Although John Murphy doesn't refer to the miracle question, mainly because it wasn't invented in 1963 I recognised that there might be some lessons for us within his words. In this podcast I pull out three principles that he insists we apply to our subconscious thought process. Once the miracle question is adopted then surely this is a subconscious thought process for your clients. Used in your work then these principles can help you multiply its power and thus multiply the effect with clients. I think these three principles might serve us when using our own version of the miracle question. 1. Physically speak out loud 2. Repeat daily. 3. Speak in the present tense. They can't be followed verbatim, then again neither can the solution focused approach. We help our clients adapt and adopt this powerful model (sfbt) into their working lives. A thing we call proactive therapy. It helps improve lives and it doesn't look for problems. Get the podcast notes by clicking here You can still get the FREE 92 page Ebook by clicking here. https://www.theactionfactory.com/free-book  

There are a number of principles behind the solution focused approach that are unchanging under any circumstance. Like Issac Newtons laws of motion they apply in every situation. Whether you're a professor of solution focused therapy or simply my aunt betty, if your solution focused then these laws apply. If you can apply these in your work then you will be a solution focused worker. Everything else is simply the tools. As we discuss in the podcast, Issac Newtons laws are principles. Our tools such as airplanes, rockets and human cannonballs are just tools. Likewise in practice we have to start with the 'LAWS' of the solution focused approach. ALSO: Exciting news as we launch our individual training course online. Over 2.5 hours of video content designed to take the solution focused model out of the therapy room and into your workplace. Launch offer.  Join us at www.theactionfactory.com Join the FREE webinar. Grab the PDF Series. Follow the podcast.

The three overlapping circles that define a solution focused worker. In other sessions we have spoken about how much power and influence a solution focused worker might have over a therapist. A solution focused worker is not a therapist, they are youth work professionals, residential workers or teachers. So what makes a solution focused worker. We thing that it's the centre of three overlapping circles, the sweet spot between you personally, your client and of course the model. Between these three lies a professional who is able to use their role to allow their clients to have better outcomes. To go beyond and of course that's why we do the job in the first place. That and the huge wages, fame and kudos! As always I'm never right but I love hearing your thoughts. As we say in our training, challenge everything. Have fun and please thank you for the questions and we will keep addressing them as we go. HOT NEWS - The new subscription model is now live! Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Solution focused working, I just don't get it mate! From experience this is a fairly common reaction form other services or those outside the 'cult' They see the results and are often stunned by them but should we really care whether they get it or not? In this podcast I talk about my own experience and suggest we shouldn't really care. Having said that I have the solution focused approach in my veins so very often my response is the same as with any client. I'm the curious inquisitor, I want you to tell me why and how you don't get how the solution focused approach works. I'd be curious as to what you think might work better? Perhaps a problem expert, highly qualified in other peoples lives with a store of answers and numerous qualifications? As always I'm never right but love to hear your thoughts. Have fun and please thank you for the questions and we will keep addressing them as we go. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

The S.I.M.PL.E acronym is something we use in our training to give workers something to grasp onto when the conversations stall. It's never a first resort but can act as a good last resort and get you to the shore, get the wheels spinning again. S - Scaling Questions I - Interpretation M - Miracle Question Again PL - Place both emotionally and physically E - Emotion A simple memory aid for when it might slow down. Have fun and please thank you for the questions and we will keep addressing them as we go. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

It's your fault, not the clients! This week I'm talking about those times when your work seems to be heading off course or stalling. Before you hit the rocks you need to head for some lifeboats and save yourself. This time I want to point the finger at you or (me), after all, it has to be the first place we look. We already know the client has the answers. We know our job is to be curious in helping them find the answers. If thats true then the reason we are running aground is right there with us, we are steering the conversations after all. So it's time to put your tin hat on and ask yourself some difficult and uncomfortable questions.  Whenever I do this I learn two things.  1. I usually don't like the answer or the questions. 2. It usually turns out to be me. Have fun and please thank you for the questions and we will keep addressing them as we go. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Questions, questions, questions in SFBT. I passionately believe that our role when using the solution focused approach is to be the curious inquisitor. To resist offering solutions at all costs and to use our curiosity to probe the problem from new angles. Out of that curiosity will come the clients own solution. If this is true then everything we do is about questions or in the words of  Thomas S. Kuhn “The answers you get depend on the questions you ask.” In this episode I wanted to break down some of the top ten categories of questions. Not so we can learn them but to be aware of them and to ask ourselves as we speak with our clients. The people we train work in social care professions and they are not therapists but they want to help their own clients live better lives by using the solution focused approach. Have fun and please thank you for the questions and we will keep addressing them as we go. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Welcome to the solution focused toolkit podcast. Moving on from the last episode I wanted to expand a little bit more on what we do after delivering our own 'working' version of the miracle questions and where those answers might take us. Solution focused therapy will not copy and paste into a work environment and therefore everything we do in our training is about adapting the tools for you. In this episode we take our first peek into some of the tools we can use once we have some natural responses to work with. The solution focused model is an amazing vehicle for having positive impact on your clients lives, it doesn't need problems. Have fun and please thank you for the questions and we will keep addressing them as we go. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

The Miracle Question and you. The whole reason for us developing the solution focused toolkit training was because we know the solution focused model will not copy and paste into your work environment. That's why when you join us for training we will say that we don't want to make you a therapist, we want to not, not make you a therapist. In short to make you a solution focused worker. So what about the miracle question? How are you able to bring this ridiculous sousing question into your day to day working life? In this episode we discuss the miracle question and then dismantle it and help you put it back together for yourself. To develop your own will enable you to have it available in your holster, ready to draw upon at anytime. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Since we launched the podcast there have been a few comments and questions from various channels. In this episode I thought I'd pause to answer a few of them. Please keep your comments and questions coming in although in future I'll probably answer one a week. Thanks so much for being there and you are greatly appreciated. Remember if your within our target audience then you probably have the greatest job in the world. Working in the care industry such as social work, residential and care and helping improve peoples lives. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Do you trust the cops? Whether you do or don't, you might be making assumptions about them that can cloud your judgement and the way you engage with them. So what about your client's, when dealing with your clients what kind of assumptions do you make about them? It works in the same way. As a solution focused professional working in numerous roles, and training the same, I have gathered a list of assumptions I always use with my clients. These may or may not be true but I don't care because I'll always work as if they are true. I've used them so long I may have got them from solution focused, stolen from other models or maybe made them up? They have served me well and one or two of them might serve you too. I'd love to hear your comments. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused        

There are four big reasons why therapy works and most of them don't involve the therapist. It's an uncomfortable truth that the main components in a positive outcome are held by the client themselves. In this episode I talk about what this means for the solution focused approach and how it empowers the professional to work with client problems. Once we know the client holds the solution then it sets us free to work in a solution focused way.  Social workers, youth workers and residential workers are now empowered to support their client group in a new way, by giving them their own room instead of a therapy room. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused      

It's so easy to get lost in the depths of academia when dealing with people and problems. However I challenge the idea that the certificates and diplomas are actually necessary? After all, the people who really came up with the solution focused approach had no idea they were doing it, they just were. These people have not gone away, they are possibly you, possibly your colleagues or family members. Seeing them and noticing them is a huge help to any ongoing personal development in the approach. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

In this very quick episode I wanted to talk about the solution focused attitude within your service. Not the wonderful talk strategies we employ but the fabric of the service itself. The feel of the whole, the physical signals that are endemic within the service. Things so easy to forget when we are caught up in fighting fires and tight budgets. I've always said that people are mentally similar to groups, countries, companies and football teams. All these things have a kind of mental health of their own. So how's your service feeling today? Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Like many of the tools we introduce 'stories' are not strictly endorsed within the solution focused arena. However our work isn't for the therapy room, it's for the workplace. I know from experience in business and in all my roles in social care, mental health and education that stories hold immense power. In this episode I tell my own story and layout the reasons why you need them in your work.   Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Solution focused therapy has it's drawbacks or so they say. In this episode I work through some common but puzzling objections to the solution focused model. I argue that many of these objections are only valid when operating outside the framework of solution focused work. My opinion is by no means the end of the argument because there's no right or wrong answer, I simply hope that this episode opens some discussion about it. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused    

We specialise in adapting the solution focused model into the workplace. Before considering this incredibly powerful approach with your team then there are some things to consider. After all you are not therapists and you don't want to be. That's why so often traditional solution focused training doesn't translate. In this episode I talk about the advantages and disadvantages of adapting the model into the classroom, youth club or residential home. Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

A rough guide to solution focused therapy and its origins. In this episode we also talk about how we adapt the incredible power of solution focused working into your everyday work. We strip it down and build it back up for you in our online training course, the solution focused toolkit. If the training room is my school then this podcast is my playground. Its where I relax to gather my thoughts and ideas.  Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused  

Welcome to the solution focused toolkit. We are the Action Factory, our passion is to take solution focused therapy out of the therapy room and into your workplace. As always we will attempt to strip it down into its component parts and make sense of the model in everyday life. A quick Monday morning listen for all social workers, residential and health workers, in fact anyone in the people business.  Follow our podcast www.thesolutionfocusedtoolkit.com Team training website : www.theactionfactory.com Individual training course : https://tinyurl.com/solution-focused