Harry Korman: The language in the solution focused work
Pre-conference workshop, May 18th 2011 Balatonfüred, 9 a.m-4.30 p.m
Whatever tools helpers believe they use in helping conversations has to come out through communication. Microanalysis is a research methodology that helps us look very closely at what happens in the dialogues between professionals and their clients. It’s about witnessing the influence of both the practitioner and the client(s): as they carefully collaborate to form and shape a description of the client’s world and a mutually agreed upon understanding of it.
Harry Korman has been collaborating with Canadian research psychologist, Janet Beavin Bavelas, co-author of The Pragmatics of Human Communication, one of the starting points of family therapy and with Peter de Jong – long-time collaborator with Insoo Kim Berg and particularly known for the seminal book “Interviewing for Solutions”.
Using microanalysis Harry, Janet and Peter have been able to put therapeutic conversations under a microscope allowing a glimpse of the micro-processes that shape the interaction and the choices that helpers do regardless of if they are aware of doing these choices or not. As helpers we have a responsibility to be aware of the choices we make. Knowing and understanding this may help us make more deliberate decisions on what directions we want to go and perhaps hopefully create more options.
We would like to link in his knowledge into the SOLworld community and make use of it for the SF organizational work.
Harry is one of Sweden’s leading brief therapist and co-author with Steve de Shazer’s on his last book “More than Miracles”
Harry works in private practice in Malmö, Sweden. He worked in child and adult psychiatry for 15 years before entering into private practice in 1996.
He spends most of his time teaching and supervising solution focused therapy in the mental health and related fields all over the world.
Harry is a physician. He is a specialist in Child and adolescent psychiatry and a family therapist and supervisor in family therapy even though he defines himself nowadays as a solution focused brief therapist.
Learn more
Here you can register.
Anton Stellamans, Liselotte Baeijaert: Solution Focus for more Resilience
Pre-conference workshop, May 18th 2011 Balatonfüred, 9 a.m-4.30 p.m, 9 a.m-4.30 p.m
We all have the experience that enhancing the strength of others immediately affects our own well being and taking good care of ourselves and our happiness often enables the community and others around us to benefit from that.
E.g. a well rested manager is often more patient, creative and understanding with his staff than a stressed manager. A happy and balanced mother has more chances to take proper care of her children than an unhappy and unhealthy mother.
Therefore it is important that we handle ourselves and others with care and respect and that we find a way to address others -and ourselves- in their resources and strengths. This will help all of us to find a better way to deal with life’s unexpected turns and changes. Solution Focus has proven to be an excellent way to interact with others, with problems, with ourselves, so that we can together make progress and reach sustainable outcomes.
Resiliency can be seen as the effect of acting in a Solution Focused way or being addressed in a Solution Focused way. Resilient people accept what is happening, re-connect to their strengths and resources, focus on future possibilities, take small steps and feel competent to handle the difficulties and challenges in their lives. They even use setbacks and defeats to become stronger, to learn and grow and to inspire others.
In our workshop
- we will discover what helps you personally to act in a resilient way and to create a resilient environment.
- we will see how resilience is something that we do, rather than something that we have
- we will come to understand the interactive nature of resilience
- we will discover the 4 keys to acting in a resilient way
- we will experience ways to enhance the resiliency of yourself and your team
- we will share how we co-operate with our client organisations to foster and encourage resiliency
- we will gratefully listen to your ideas on resilience and create stimulating exchanges with all of the other participants.
Liselotte and Anton have succeeded in writing an uplifting book that is inspirational and very useful in situations where people work and live together. The book is now being translated in English.
“Resilient people, resilient teams” is a valuable compilation of practical ways to deal with life’s complexity. In line with the findings of the Solution Focused Approach it inspires people about what they can DO in order to thrive, cooperate, grow and create positive environments. Accepting what is, envisioning what can be, collecting what works already and making small steps are the four pillars of this book. Hundreds of employees and managers now use “Resilient people, resilient teams” as a source of inspiration to boost their own energy and the morale of the people in their organisations.
Liselotte Baeijaert and Anton Stellamans are owners of Ilfaro, a Belgian based solution focused coaching and training organisation.
Liselotte (°63 MA in Germanic literature and drama) has been working as a trainer, coach and consultant in different organisation contexts for more than 20 years. She is keen on sharing and exploring positive and respectful cooperation skills.
Her business partner, Anton (°73 MA in Philosophy and History) shares this passion for coaching en training. Trained as a solution focused brief therapist at the Korzybski Institute in Bruges, he is particularly interested in the interplay between philosophy and solution focus.
Ilfaro now works with nine coaches and consultants in profit and non for profit organisations and schools. Their style is very experiential, playful and respectful. They support the SALAMA neuroscience project in South Kivu, Congo, where local therapists rely on the solution focus to help survivors of war trauma.
Here you can register.
COOPERATION – How to create a solution-focused working environment – a training program for managers and staff 
Post-conferece workshop, May 23rd 2011 Budapest, 9 a.m-4.30 p.m
«COOPERATION» is a training program that teaches managers and staff the skills required to create cooperative and highly motivating working environments. It is a synthesis of Ben Furman’s and Tapani Ahola’s more than three decades of experience in leadership training and organisational development in Finland as well as internationally.
The themes covered by the program include:
- Success, positive feedback and praise
- Solution-focused coaching
- Solution-focused problem solving
- Appreciative criticism
- Responding to criticism constructively
- Resolve hurts and offences
This one day workshop is an introduction to the program.
Ben Furman is director of Helsinki Brief Therapy Institute in Finland. He is psychiatrist, registered trainer-psychotherapist, teacher of solution-focused therapy, Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marital and Family Therapy 1995-2000.
Ben’s publications include, among others, “Never too late to have a happy childhood”, “Solution Talk – hosting therapeutic conversations” and “Kids’ Skills: Practical and playful solution-finding with children” His most recent book “Kids’ Skills in Action: Stories of practical and playful solution-finding with children” was published in July 2010 in Australia by St. Lukes Innovative Resources.
Ben has also been active and innovative exploring other applications of solution-focused approach such as coaching, leadership training, team building and education. Together with Tapani Ahola he has developed a solution-focused method for coaching and managing change called reteaming and a concept for teaching solution focused leadership and communication, the ‘Twin Star’.
In Finland he is well known for his informative psychological program on national TV which he hosted for several years during 1990′s and 2000′s. Currently Ben is working with radio hosting a biweekly two hour call in program. Ben lectures internationally and has over the years had engagements in all Scandinavian countries, in several european countries including Germany, Austria, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Holland and England as well as overseas including USA, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Israel and Egypt.
Here you can register.