BTNE STUDY DAY FRIDAY 13 MAY 2011

1. Beginning Solution Focused Therapy: Mark Shepherd

Through the course of the morning Mark will take people through the key ideas and practice tools of the Solution Focused approach. The workshop will be suitable for practitioners who have no prior experience of the approach and others who feel in need of a refresher.

2. Developing narrative practices: Liz Todd & Charmian Hobbs

Narrative therapy assists people, through conversation, in a rediscovery of preferred meanings for their lives. The re-authoring process offered in a narrative approach names the problem as the problem thus separating personal identity conclusions from negative experiences. This session builds on the practices people already have in narrative to look at some ways of approaching reauthoring.

Liz Todd is Professor of Educational Inclusion at Newcastle University in the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching and Charmian Hobbs is Principal Educational Psychologist of Darlington Council. They continue to use narrative therapy and practices in their work. Charmian has developed her service as a narrative educational psychology service, with a range of creative ways of working. Liz Todd has been using narrative for the last 10 years and integrates these with the ideas and practices of video interaction and guidance (VIG). Her research is in ways of working collaboratively with children, young people, parents and professionals in schools and services.

3. Moving through guilt and shame to Fundamentally Honest Resources: Nigel Hetherington

A Solution Focused Change Process for Therapists and Clients

"As each and everyone of us move through this life, we learn. We can not learn! And our lessons come in many forms and guises. Knowledge comes from experience, experience comes from making mistakes, lots of them, and ultimately wisdom comes from our own experiences ... especially when ... we acknowledge our mistakes are extremely useful experiences.

Sometimes our greatest learnings can come from the most unpleasant and unwanted experiences we have had. Because our actions or our inactions have seemed to be causal in either hurting ourself or another human beings, we feel guilt.

But what exactly is guilt? Or much more importantly what is its function and how can we transform this particular feeling into something that is inherently useful and serves to direct our future behaviours and actions?

Guilt, exactly like 'sin' functions to cripple and inhibit way too many people in realising more of your inherent potential and preventing you making the world a much warmer and brighter place.

This session is about letting go of and transforming guilt into the learnings that actually assist you as well as others in profiting from your experience. This is about keeping the learnings . How else would you have gained your knowledge? ) and letting go of any negative or inhibiting sensations that literally cripple who you are and who can can be.

Let go of the past, lose the guilt, keep your learning ... and move on."

About Nigel Hetherington

During a six year career in software design and development for the offshore and medical industry, Nigel was introduced to NLP and Hypnotherapy and never, too often looked back.

He left a reasonably well paid yet ultimately unrewarding job and sold his home to start his training and facilitation company Communicating Excellence in 2005.

Nigel works as a training facilitator and clinical therapist. His areas of interest are serious trauma, addictions and integrating spirituality within an integral framework of the principles of therapeutic remedial assistance and generative change. He is the creator of Clean Therapy, which is a process mix of NLP, hypnosis, humour, some other stuff and body work.

Certified Training : NLP Trainer with SNLP, John Grinder and The Professional Guild of NLP. Clinical Hypnotherapy Trainer with SNLP and General Hypnotherapy Standards Council.

4. Demonstrations in the city! Keith Stead

This workshop will give you the opportunity to observe the use of the Rickter Scale® Process in two very different settings.

The Rickter Scale® was developed by Rick Hutchinson and Keith Stead in 1993 to work with socially excluded young offenders who presented with multiple barriers to their engagement with education, training and employment. As a multi-sensory approach it engaged them, and scaling helped them express themselves in terms of where they were and where they wanted to be, whilst simultaneously providing a measure of softer indicators and distance travelled. As well as developing the standard solution-focused way of working pioneered by Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer, our process incorporates other related models and techniques, including NLP, Motivational Interviewing, Systems Thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Person-centred Counseling and Applied Positive Psychology. The Process enables its end-users to explore possibility, make informed choices and take responsibility for their goals while contributing to an agreed action plan. Online software – our Impact Management System – can then offer aggregation and analysis of Rickter-related data from multiple worksites to produce reports to the specification of the organization. In this way the organization can demonstrate accountability, added value and evidence the effectiveness of their service delivery.

Since 1999 it has been the preferred initial assessment tool for the New Deal Learning Gateway Programme, Scotland’s New Futures Fund Initiative and Careers Wales’ Youth Gateway Programme. Over 18,000 practitioners have now been trained and licensed in the UK, Europe, North America and Australasia.

The Rickter Scale® Process has also been adapted for use across all sectors with a particular emphasis on helping those individuals and groups facing social exclusion.

More recently it has been used with the likes of Scottish Society for Autism, regeneration and employability projects in Northern Ireland, with families where two or more generations are unemployed in ex-mining communities in County Durham and as a research tool for PhD students at Northumbria University.

In the workshop you will have the opportunity to observe a one-to-one use of the Rickter Scale® Process, followed by a demonstration of how it can be used for group work. You may like to volunteer to be Ricktered! Alternatively you can perhaps take an interactive role by freezing the demonstration to ask your own questions of the facilitator and subjects. You are all welcome, whatever your current level of experience of the SF approach.

Keith qualified as a teacher in 1970. He has taught at all levels of education and has experience of working in International Schools in West Africa and the Middle East – latterly as a head teacher.

On returning to the UK in 1989 he became Director of a voluntary sector training organization in the north-east, during which time he met with Rick Hutchinson and together they developed the Rickter Scale® Process. Keith also has a Masters degree in Applied Linguistics, and is a qualified trainer and consultant in Neuro-linguistic Programming.

5. Three Ways To Experience and Enhance Compassionate Self-Acceptance: Andy Hunt

In this workshop Andy Hunt will present three techniques for quickly and easily developing compassionate self-acceptance. These techniques take advantage of our natural ability to feel compassionate towards other beings and use it applies to apply to ourselves. Far from being just a warm and fuzzy nice thing to have, compassionate self-acceptance is being recognised as a major part of psychological and emotional well-being.

One of the techniques show will be A Little Drop Of Kindness which you can read about by clicking the link

These processes let you or your clients feel compassionate acceptance for yourself and are a gentle emotional tonic, especially if you are having a hard time. They are a mixture of relaxation, guided imagery, state elicitation and metaphor.

Andy Hunt is an EFT & NLP Trainer and Practitioner living in the North East of England. He works with people who give themselves a hard time, judge themselves harshly, feel bad about themselves and spend far more time beating themselves up than living the life they would want.

Since leaving university30 years ago, he has had a variety of jobs including: milkman, assistant steward on an Irish Sea ferry, Residential Social Worker at a centre for delinquent teenagers, Assistant Head of Youth Centre in Brixham, grape picker in Switzerland, spring grinder(!) in Germany, night porter, barman, software engineer, and now therapist and trainer

6. Introduction to the Emotional Freedom Technique: Andy Hunt

See www.emofree.com for more information

Andy Hunt is an EFT & NLP Trainer and Practitioner living in the North East of England. He works with people who give themselves a hard time, judge themselves harshly, feel bad about themselves and spend far more time beating themselves up than living the life they would want.

Since leaving university30 years ago, he has had a variety of jobs including: milkman, assistant steward on an Irish Sea ferry, Residential Social Worker at a centre for delinquent teenagers, Assistant Head of Youth Centre in Brixham, grape picker in Switzerland, spring grinder(!) in Germany, night porter, barman, software engineer, and now therapist and trainer

7. Solution Focused Groups: Yvonne Greaves

Self Esteem and Anger Solutions groupwork resources – An introduction to strengths based frameworks created within tier two Child & Adolescent Mental Health provider service, with support of service users. The resource is now incorporated into the service resource library and cascaded to other agency settings for use in one to one interventions as well as groupwork.

8. Using the solution focused approach in a student wellbeing initial appointment: Rhu Medd and Rob Meadows

Using Solution Focused questions in an initial appointment with students accessing counselling and mental health support at Newcastle University. Introducing a brief intervention model to an established therapy service, its current use and possibilities for the future.

Rhu Medd

Rhu qualified as a mental health nurse from Northumbria University in 2006. Rhu has worked in a wide range of mental health settings predominantly forensic services where she was a staff nurse working mainly in CBT and PSI for long term inpatient work. Rhu Joined the Student wellbeing team in 2009 and has the managerial leads for the initial appointment systems along with overseeing the use of beating the blues the online CBT package that is used. Rhu is keen to continue to develop and maintain the use of solution focus in her clinical work for providing brief interventions at Newcastle University.

Rob Bedford

Rob qualified as an Occupational Therapist from Oxford Brookes in 1995. Rob has extensive experience of working in a wide range of mental health settings using individual therapy and group work. Rob currently works as a Student Wellbeing Adviser at Newcastle University with a managerial lead for the therapeutic group programme currently under development. Rob is keen to further develop and establish the practice of solution focused therapy within the Brief Intervention service provided at Newcastle University.

9. Review your supervision: Linda Garbutt

This workshop introduces a model for evaluating the development of supervision practice.  It can be used to structure regular reviews of how the supervision is working or to identify the source of a problem within the supervision. The workshop will be practice-based.

Structure and content of workshop:

Participants will introduce themselves and their interest in supervision.

We shall agree ground rules for the workshop.

The model will be presented.  A hand-out describing the model will be provided.   There will be time for a short discussion to answer questions and clarify points raised.  

Drawing on their own experience, the participants will be invited to use the model to structure a review of a supervisory relationship or to discover the source of a concern they have about a supervisee.

Participants will consider how they might use the model in their practice as either a supervisor or supervisee. Participants will be invited to share their conclusions within the group. 

Intended audience for the workshop:

Supervisees and Supervisors

Dr Linda Garbutt has worked as a counsellor, supervisor and trainer in the North East for over twenty years in a variety of settings including Higher Education, Primary Care, the Voluntary Sector and Palliative Care.  Having developed a passion for all things connected with supervision, Linda embarked on a doctoral research programme at the Metanoia Institute in 2001, investigating the concept of an internal supervisor and how it can be developed through reflective writing. Linda continues to work as a therapist and supervisor in independent practice and organises support groups and training events for practitioners.

The model presented in the workshop is one of several outcomes of Linda’s research project.  Others include publication of research findings in Gillie Bolton’s ‘Reflective Practice books, an article in an internet journal, Contemporary Psychotherapy in 2010 and a summary of what it involves to be blind and undertake research which describes Linda’s own experience.

References

Bolton, G. (2005).  Reflective Practice, Writing and Professional Development, second edition.  London: Sage.     

Bolton, G. (2010).  Reflective Practice, Writing and Professional Development. Third Edition.  London:  Sage.

Garbutt, L. (2009).  Managing Psychotherapeutic Practice Between External Supervision Sessions:  Understanding and Using the Concept of An Internal Supervisor.  Unpublished doctoral project, Middlesex University.

10. Using Solution-focused thinking as a Local Authority Designated Officer: Jan Turner

Jan Turner, an experienced Solution Focused Practitioner with MA (Birmingham) in Solution Focused Therapy has recently been appointed in the role of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). As set out in the HM Government guidance, Working Together 2010, the remit of the role, located within Children’s Services requires that the LADO should be alerted to all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:

The focus of the role in managing risk, often due to significant allegations is proving a challenging and welcome opportunity to maintain a Solution Focused perspective in engaging and collaborating with the systems around the child (or vulnerable adult) whilst maintaining the principle that the welfare of the vulnerable person remains paramount.

The workshop will explain the role of LADO and also explore ways of engaging effectively communicating in LADO strategy meetings through an exploration of an actual scenario. (anonymised)

11. Solution-focused reflecting team: Andrew Calcott

This workshop will introduce you to the SF Reflecting Team model described by Harry Norman and colleagues in Bristol. This is a very structured model of case discussion that brings the best out of the participants whilst making the most of the time available. Previous participants have gone on to introduce this practice into their own workplaces.

The workshop is suitable for people who are both new to the Solution Focused approach and those with years of experience. A brief overview of the model will be followed by active discussion of real cases. Folk who have attended this well-received workshop in the past are very welcome to come back and join in our lively discussions.

Andrew Callcott is a mental health nurse, with an interest in SFBT going back to 1993 when a Michael Durrant workshop infected him with a bug that he has been unable to shake off. With an MA in SFBT and experience applying this approach in variety of settings including self harm/suicide prevention, primary care, and crisis resolution. Andrew currently works as a psychological therapist in Northumberland. He has published a number of articles on the solution focused approach, and presented at conferences in the UK and abroad.

12. SFBT and CBT - A Marriage made in Heaven???? Janine Ross

A year on Janine looks at the CBT versus SFBT controversy from a different angle to the ‘kicking and screaming one’ presented last year  Does being a CBT therapist mean you have to throw the SFBT baby out with the bath water?

The workshop will have examples of techniques and cases and ask whether the similarities and strengths of these 2 approaches can be used together in a harmonious, positive and productive ‘marrying’ of the ways or is there ‘trouble and strife’ ahead?

13. Solution-focused journeys: Matthew Moore

I am an Occupational Therapist by profession and use a Solution Focussed Approach throughout my work with clients. Like many others who use the approach I have gone through a journey of discovery, learning, training, and practice. This is an on-going journey of development and change, at times being very much a purist and at others being much more relaxed in its use.

In the workshop I will share some of my experiences and in small groups or pairs we will investigate what makes our SF Mojo tick now, what got us into it in the first place, how it has changed over time, what we have stopped doing because we felt it no longer worked, what we might try again but had forgotten about and anything else that seems relevant. We will consider what is important in terms of technique, attitude and philosophy and maybe even what is solution focussed.

The session will end with a conversation about what we have found and we will each go away with at least one great new idea to steal/borrow/try and a revitalised enthusiasm for what we do.

Matthew Moore has worked in the Condition Management Programme in South Tyne and Wear for the last 6 years. Prior to that he had worked in more traditional Occupational Therapy roles in Social Services, Community Mental Health, forensic psychiatry and others since qualifying from Northumbria in 1996. He gained the BRIEF Diploma in 2009 and has used the Solution Focussed Approach to underpin his work in since 2006.