Simply Focus Podcast: The Good Life Approach - Your Weekly Podcast With The Little Extra Solution Focus For Your Daily Life!

Johnny Kim about Solution Focus as an Evidence-Based Intervention. In today’s episode, we talk with Johnny S. Kim, Ph.D., LICWS, Associate Professor at the University of Denver, and Chair of the SFBTA Research Committee about his fascination with Solution Focus, how SF became an Evidence-based intervention, and why it is important for SF to be in the national registries of Evidence-based practices. Learn more about Solution Focus as an Evidence-based intervention and the differences it makes for practitioners that SF is seen as an Evidence-based intervention. Find out more about Johnny’s learnings from working with these national registries about doing «good» research, the importance of training for good research and research for good training, and learn more about implementation science and the first outcomes for Solution Focused trainings. We also explore Solution Focus as a multicultural approach and the different use of the “miracle” question in Taiwan, Hongkong, Japan, China or South Africa compared to K

Dr. Thorana Nelson about systems thinking, Solution Focus, and families. In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Thorana Nelson, Professor Emerita of Utah State University about what fascinates her with Solution Focused Brief Therapy with families and how she came up with the idea of writing a book about SF and families. We explore the interactional view and the paradigm of systems thinking, the differences between "systemic theories“ as a coaching or therapy model and "systems thinking“ as a mindset, and the difference between deriving interventions from theory versus deriving interventions from practice with the client. Thorana Nelson describes systems thinking and the fit with Solution Focus or how Solution Focus is very systemic, how she works in a systemic and Solution Focused way, and how the different interactions in the therapy room can be used in other situations. She mentions the focus on reciprocal interactions that she would like Solution Focused practitioners to do more of and how solution focused q

Simon Lee about creating ripples. In today’s episode, we talk with Simon Lee, Managing Partner of Brief Academy in Singapore and Accredited Master Executive Coach about what fascinates him with Solution Focus, how he met Solution Focus and what changed for him with SF, how the "7 questions every leader should ask“ originated, and how they can be used to have more effective meetings. Learn more about how to pay attention to what employees are looking for, the exact sequence of the 7 questions, and what differences these questions can make. Simon also talks about his fascination with training Solution Focused coaches, what they do at the Brief Academy Singapore, and how they focus on the clients in their trainings and let them create the agenda for the day. He further mentions how their trainings have developed, how they learn from their clients, and the differences SF has made in his family life. Check out how he promotes Solution Focus in other areas of life and how the work becomes lighter with SF. And of co

Teri Pichot about Animal-Assisted Solution Focused Brief Therapy. In today’s episode, we talk with Teri Pichot, LCSW, MAC, LAC, Solution Focused Animal-Assisted Brief Therapist and Solution Focused Trainer at the Denver Center for Solution-Focused Brief Therapy about what fascinates her about Solution Focus, what fascinated her when she learnt about Solution Focus for the first time, how her work changed as a result of getting to know Solution Focus, and how she works with her therapy dog and how her dog assists her in doing Solution Focused Brief Therapy. Learn more about how she started to bring her dog to work as a Solution Focused therapy assistant, how this influenced her work, and how having a dog around changes the environment and the interactions. Check out how she creates exceptions for her clients with her therapy dog and how she uses these exceptions in the session with asking Solution Focused questions. Learn more about the first third of a SF session - „What do clients want?“ -, the second third

Brenda Zalter-Minden and Heather Fiske about training trainers. In today’s episode, we are live at the SFBTA pre-conference “Train the Trainer”-workshop with Brenda Zalter-Minden and Heather Fiske, who facilitate the two days, and we talk with them about what fascinates them about training trainers, how they started the „Train the Trainer“-course and invited the participants to bring in their expertise, how they do this training in a Solution Focused way, and what the other person is doing that is unique for the other person, Solution Focused and very useful. Check out how they respond to the participants to foster learning and learn more about their best hopes for the second day or what they would like the participants to say at the end of the second day as well as their learnings from the Train-the-Trainer-journey over the years. And we listened to some of the participants and asked Marcella Stark, Nicolas Taylor, and Aryeh Keshet what inspired them or fascinated them on the first day of the “Train the Trai

Scott D. Miller about Solution Focus and deliberate practice. In today’s episode, we talk with Scott D. Miller, PH.D., founder of the International Center for Clinical Excellence, author, and promoter of deliberate practice, about how he got in touch with Solution Focus, how he moved to Milwaukee to work at the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in Milwaukee, what fascinated him with the work at BFTC, and how the way they worked back then has a lot to do with the work he does now. Learn more about how describing Solution Focus to others led to a standardized approach, what led him towards deliberate practice and how those therapists are most effective that measure their results, reflect their practice, and learn from feedback. Check out the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) and the Session Rating Scale (SRS) and how they can help you refine your practice. Scott also talks about how well Solution Focus fits to deliberate practice and how that way of learning could be transferred to other areas where Solution Focus is

Gale Miller about observing Solution Focus. In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Gale Miller, sociologist and emeritus research professor at Marquette University, about what fascinates him with Solution Focus, what intrigued him when he first came to the Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in 1984, and the evolution from the ecosystemic approach to Solution Focus. He tells us how it came he could observe Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, how and what he observed that was going on at BFTC, and how they learned through observing, discussing, trying out and observing again. Learn more about the systematic review and the importance of the research committee at BFTC or how they watched therapy tapes and discussed them. And we discuss Gales perception of emotions in the Solution Focused approach. Check out the challenge of the week: At the next meeting, listen and observe who says what and who responds in what way and how the conversation goes on. What do you learn from this? The post SFP 35 – Observing Solution F

Eve Lipchik about the beginning of Solution Focus. In today’s episode, we talk with Eve Lipchik, Co-Founder of the Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee and the Solution Focused approach, Author, Certified Social Worker, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist, about what fascinated her with Solution Focus at the beginning, how Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer met in Palo Alto, how they started the BFTC – the Brief Family Therapy Center – in Milwaukee, how they looked at the recordings of the sessions, tried out new things, and learned from their clients. She mentions how Steve de Shazer conceptualized what they were doing, what and who helped to promote Solution Focus, and how they learned and moved from the ecosystemic approach to Solution Focus. Check out how the question what clients don’t want to change led them to Solution Focused thinking, how they analyzed the conversations with the questions „What worked?“ and „What didn’t work?”, how scaling and the miracle q

Angela Knox about pursuing happiness. In today’s episode, we talk with Angela Knox, doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, certified Wim Hof instructor, and passionate river surf(h)er, about what fascinates her with Solution Focus, what similarities she sees between SF and what she does in her life, how she grows her good moments and celebrates things that work well. She tells us how love helped her to see good moments during her healing journey and to do things that made her feel better. We further talk about the importance of having a preferred future and going small steps as well as passion and choosing the things that feel amazing. Learn more about the Wim Hof Method and hear what fascinates Elfie and Angela about it and the differences this practice makes for them in their lives. Hear how Angela river surfed in her bikini in the ice cold water in the winter. And check out Angela’s message to you: Stay true to yourself and let your vision keep changing. Ready for the Challenge of the week: Sink into the

Keiko Yoneyama about small differences. In today’s episode, we talk with Keiko Yoneyama, a Solution Focused Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and host of the international SF book club, about her fascination with Solution Focus, how she works with children and how SF helps them to talk, her work with parents, mothers, and women in postpartum period and how she focuses on small changes and small steps. Check out how she applies Solution Focus with her children and what she found out works well for them. Get to know how she offers mothers a space to talk in her parent support groups and how SF comes in there. And learn more about the differences between Solution Focus in the US and in Japan as well as the international Solution Focused book club she hosts. Keiko gave us the following challenge of the week: „Look for the SF essence in what you are reading or what you are hearing to celebrate the SF assumptions." The post SFP 32 – Small steps count: A conversation about SF parenting, SF in Japan and more with

Solution Focus is fascinating. In today’s episode, we re-listen to the fascinations with Solution Focus of all the interviewees we had on our podcast so far. Let yourself fascinate by the fascinations of Jonathan D. Sherman, Monica Rotner, Pamela King, Stephen Langer, Janet Beavin Bavelas, Haesun Moon, Thorana Nelson, Victor Nelson, Bo Yon Koh, Alan Kay, Brenda Zalter-Minden, Laura Cole, Bob Faw, Peter De Jong, Elliott Connie, Brigitte Lavoie, Heather Fiske, Bill O’Hanlon, Dvorah Simon, and Dominik Godat. And let us know in the comments section below “What fascinates you with Solution Focus?”. The post SFP 31 – Fascination Solution Focus appeared first on SF on tour.

Dominik Godat about Solution Focused Leadership. In today’s episode, we talk with Dominik Godat, lic.rer.pol, Partner of the Center for Solution Focused Leadership, Author, Promotor of SF & SF Leadership, and Co-host of the SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, about what fascinates him with Solution Focus now and what fascinated him when he encountered SF for the first time, how he used Solution Focus in his HR and Leadership positions and what differences this made, what helped him to leave the responsibility with his conversation partners, and how Solution Focus supported his employees in acquiring expertise and making their careers. Learn how SF can be confusing for employees in the beginning and going slow helps them in adapting to it. Dominik tells us the story of the success bell that he and his team invented to give each other more appreciation and make things that what work visible, and how he became self employed to spread SF in organizations even more and assist them to adapt a productive focus. Check out his rese

Dvorah Simon – poetry and SF in action. In today’s episode, we talk with Dvorah Simon, PH.D., Psychologist and Poet, about what fascinates her with Solution Focus, how she got in contact with SF in the late 80’s, how SF is a tradition that continues to evolve and is to a certain extend less necessary than it used to be, and how it spoke to her from a spiritual point of view. She mentions the evolution of Solution Focus and the importance of conversations about the essence of SF when the form is changing. Learn how SF and asking the questions may sound different in different contexts and how she doesn’t put the method above what might be useful for the client. Hear how you never loose when you ask and how she works “one person at a time“ with veterans, homeless people (people without housing), and everyone else. She mentions the Ericksonian influence, e.g. acceptance and loving your failures and the parts that don’t work, as well as how she tries to embody the SF principles as a supervisor and fosters what her

Bill O’Hanlon about possibilities. In today’s episode, we talk with Bill O'Hanlon, Author of 30+ published books, Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, Coach, Speaker, and Musician, about what fascinates him with Solution Focus, the moment when everything changed for him, the influence of Dr. Milton Erickson, and how he corresponded with Steve de Shazer and co-developed Solution-Oriented Therapy. Find out what changed for him after he encountered solution-oriented ideas, how he describes solution-orientation and how he called it possibilities therapy. Explore how he uses storytelling to e.g. help people focus on their preferred future and the importance of allowing yourself to feel two different things at the same time and not have it be a conflict. He tells us about the similarities between music and therapy and about not being hypnotized by the problem and believing in the possibility of possibilities and the normal range of human experience and its acceptance. He tells us the story of how he became the gardener

Heather Fiske about Solution Focused Suicide Prevention. In today’s episode, we talk with Heather Fiske, PH.D., Author of "Hope in Action" and a great Solution Focused clinician, about Solution Focused Suicide Prevention. We start with what fascinates her with Solution Focus, how she felt like coming home when she attended Insoo Kim Berg's workshop, how her work and her listening changed after that, and her professional responsibility to stay hopeful and how she communicates that to her clients. Heather emphasizes the importance of what we say and what we don’t say. Get to know how she works in a Solution Focused way with people mentioning suicide as an option and their support system and how her work with parents changed over time. Find out more about reasons for living and the free webinar „Hope and Reasons for Living - Solution Focused Suicide Prevention" we did with Brigitte Lavoie and her. She also shows us how she asks the best hopes-question and the miracle question in suicide prevention and explains h

A storytelling method. In today’s episode, we are celebrating half a year SIMPLY FOCUS podcast with “That Reminds Me of A Story” by Hannes Couvreur. In the first 10 minutes, we talk with Hannes Couvreur, Founder & Local Wisdom Cultivator of “That Reminds Me of A Story”, Resourcefulness Detective & Founder of Superbly Human, about the SolWorld CEE where we met Hannes, where he scaled with shoes and introduced „That reminds me of the following story”. He tells us how it works and how he accompanied by Anton Stellamans came up with it. And Hannes gave us the following challenge of the week: „Share a story that you were reminded of when you listened to this podcast.” Then we do it live as a celebration and reflection of our last half a year! Wow, thank you for this great community and all the people who made these and so many more stories possible! And remember when you pass „That Reminds Me of A Story“ to others, please tell the story of Hannes Couvreur and quote Gregory Bateson. Thank you! The post SFP 26 – Cel

Brigitte Lavoie about implementing an SF suicide prevention program. In today’s episode, we talk with Brigitte Lavoie, M.P.s, Solution Focused therapist, trainer and supervisor, about what fascinates her with Solution Focus, how she got in touch with SF as the director of Suicide Action Montreal in 1997 and how SF made sense in the suicide prevention field especially also for traditional men. She shares the story of how one moment in the implementation process of the suicide prevention program, that Brigitte developed for the Province of Quebec, changed her perception in the way she does trainings ever since. Learn how they met with the people that were most against the project, really saw them as experts, and listened to them with an SF stance to develop a shared vision. Get to know the differences this 3-day training on suicide prevention makes and the hope it gives. Listen to the metaphors Brigitte uses to talk about SF and how she shows the difference between SF and problem talk. And learn more about the

Elliott Connie about Solution Focus, love and hope. In today’s episode, we talk with Elliott Connie, MA, LPC, Psychotherapist, Author, Researcher, Lecturer, and Founder and President of the Solution Focused University (SFU) about what fascinates him about Solution Focus, how Solution Focus makes logical sense, and how he shares his work and makes Solution Focus visible. Learn how his book „The Solution Focused marriage“ inspired us - how something transformative happens when we re-experiencing moments of joy, re-co-construct a memory and co-construct a future. Check out how he supports people to move towards their best hopes and how he co-constructs the future and past with his clients and invites them into an optimistic, positive state of mind. Elliott emphasizes that we have to train ourselves when we say someone is beautiful, smart or wonderful to also share how come and what`s right. We furthermore talk about his recent journey to South Africa with the train of hope, what he does in his trainings that is

Peter de Jong about co-creating conversations. In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Peter de Jong, Professor of Social Work Emeritus, LMSW, author and former adjunct at the Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where solution focused practices first were developed, about his book "Interviewing for Solutions" that he wrote with Insoo Kim Berg, what fascinates him about Solution Focus, what changed for Peter since he was introduced to microanalysis, and the learnings and applications of microanalysis. Find out what he is listening for in a conversation and learn about the three-step dance of calibration or how conversations are being built between the participants. Check out his take on the relevance of microanalysis for practitioners, topic selection and how what we choose of the clients' words directs the conversation. Learn more about intentional listening and how the way we listen influences the conversation and how clients tend to follow where the practitioner goes and hence the importance o

Bob Faw energizes! In today’s episode, we talk with Bob Faw, Author, Key-Note Speaker and Positive Change Agent, about what fascinates him with Solution Focus, what he does to energize people, teams, and organizations, his book “Energize”, his most favorite brain tool, and how he works with teams to re-energize themselves. Learn how Bob focuses on what’s beautiful in people, what he does to energize himself and how he makes strangers laugh and pays attention to people. Check out how you can listening for what you really like and how beauty can inspire. And learn about the importance of finding balance through positive news. Challenge 1 of the week: 1) Create a positive goal, 2) find out who is already doing something good and beautiful about it, 3) find a way to build on those things by making positive changes in the right direction 4) and whenever you can celebrate people doing the right thing. Challenge 2 of the week: Find people you disagree with on some things. And first find out something beautiful about