Michael's NEW book

Here in Australia, books from the Northern Hemisphere are often not readily available. Thus, my initial reason for writing this book was to make a systematic treatment of Solution-Focused ideas more available to people in Australia and New Zealand.

However, it became clear to me that I wanted to be true to the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy tradition but also explore various more recent developments and different applications of the approach and write something twenty years more up-to-date. Some colleagues suggested that the book might be of use and interest to people beyond Australia and New Zealand.

  CONTENTS

    Preface

    Acknowledgements

    Foreword (by Chris Iveson, BRIEF, London)

     1. Perspectives

     2. Building possibilities rather than confronting reasons

     3. Exceptions

     4. Beginnings

     5. The preferred future

     6. What if they give an unrealistic answer to the miracle question?

     7. Scaling

     8. Endings

     9. Subsequent sessions

   10. The magic of words (Language matters)

   11. Strengths, resilience and Positive Psychology

   12. The power of description

   13. Solution focus in schools

   14. SF in organisations and coaching

   15. Post-traumatic success

   16. A Solution-Focused purist? And questions about the approach

   References

   Index

Michael Durrant’s wealth of clinical experience, keen understanding of the assumptions that drive the Solution-Focused approach and the techniques that characterize its most effective implementation are clearly evident throughout this excellent book, making it an invaluable resource for both experienced and new SF practitioners.

— Yvonne Dolan, Founding Director of The Institute for Solution-Focused Therapy, author of Solution-Focused Therapy: The
basics and co-author (with Steve de Shazer) of More than miracles: The state of the art of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy.

There are several dialects of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. When you read this book, you will probably notice which dialect Michael prefers. You will also notice the stance of respect and humility that transpires throughout the work, both in how Michael writes, teaches, works with his clients, and describes other dialects of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. If you have an interest in where Solution Focus came from and in the changes and developments of the model you should read this book.

— Harry Korman, child psychiatrist and family therapist in private practice at SIKT in Malmö, Sweden. He works mainly as a trainer and supervisor
in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. His research interest is making co-construction visible in the moment-by-interaction between people.

From 'what’s wrong' to 'what’s wanted', building possibility and progress rather than confronting reasons, Michael shows us how SF approaches can be applied to great effect in various settings.  His experience and breadth of knowledge shine through each page and every case study.  If you are a clinician, coach or consultant, there is something here for you.  The elegance of SF approaches can be applied 1:1 with teams and across organisations. It may seem simple, but it’s not easy!  Dive into the cases and notice how the power of language, perspective and description work in each context. 

— Jason Pascoe, Director at The Enactive Solution, is an experienced consultant, leadership coach and facilitator who works with leaders
and their teams to drive organisational success. He was previously Director of Consultancy Services at Growth Coaching International.

We have both had very similar Solution-Focused journeys, starting with a two-day SFBT workshop with Michael after which we were hooked. Since then, we have been waiting for a book that we can recommend to people starting their SF journey. There are a lot of books that we like and recommend to students and colleagues, but, until now, nothing that was the comprehensive introduction to the topic we were looking for. This book reminds us so much of the initial workshop we attended both in content and style (and we even hear Michael's voice when we read the words in the book). From the first chapter, "Perspectives", the book took us back to that first workshop — the very first time we felt we had found an approach that fitted the "way of being with" people that we had both been searching for. No book could replace face-to-face training, but this book will be a valuable resource for those new to the approach and those wanting to consolidate their learning.

— Emma Burns (psychologist) and David Hains (mental health nurse), The Possibilities Lab.
Both are former Presidents of the Australasian Solution-Focused Association.