Lately the workshop on Stress Management has been my best seller.

I have led three such 2-day workshops in the past month alone. Sign of the times, I guess.

In leading this workshop I am using what I call a sample-and-build approach.
First, I establish a positive and resourceful setting, by:
a) having participants define what they want instead of feeling stressed
b) inviting them to look at exceptions
c) inviting them to share their stories in a structured format.
This is the build part. We are bulding effective stress management strategies based on the participants’ skills and experiences. Sharing is a big part of creating excitement about what the participants are building.

Then, we move on to the  sample part.
There are a few Stress Management techniques demonstrated to work. Some of them are derived from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, others from Relaxation and Mindfulness approaches.
I give participants the chance to try each technique: e.g. I lead them in a “reframing” exercise and I lead them in a Progressive Muscle Relaxation exercise, and so on.
At the end of the workshop they have had the experience of several different techniques. This is the sampling part.
They have then the elements to decide which technique works best for them and pursue that: in this age of youtube, shared knowledge and easy access to handbooks and manuals, the resources are all out there to make a meal out of the original sample.
This way the new technique is seamlessly integrated in each participant’s behavioral repertoire.
Back to the build phase again.

And the learning cycle goes on…

The feedback I received from participants so far has been extremely positive!

Tags: build-and-sample, Solution Focus, Stress Management, workshop

I am back from Texel, where the 2009 SOL conference was held. That was fun!

I was honored to meet many of the people I frequently interact with online and with whom I have very stimulating conversations about coaching and solution-focus. I was also happy to make new connections and new friends!

Anyway, many workshops were going on simultaneously – I know I wanted to be in 7 different places at once, and I know other people felt the same way: having to choose one workshop out of seven, that means saying no to some very good presentations and activity, and that is hard!

Hoping to do something useful, both for the people who attended my workshop and for those who could not, I am posting here the slides of my presentation with a recording.

A few notes here:

- I discovered that the presence of an audience does make a difference. It is easy to come alive in front of other people, who can encourage you with their presence, their approval or simply by interacting with you, verbally or nonverbally. It is much harder to sound engaging when you are talking to a computer screen, with slides playing in front of you. What I am trying to say is: forgive my droning on, that is the price to pay to have not just the slides but the whole presentation.

- I had to break up the presentation in 5 parts, to make it more manageable for youtube. Be patient.

- During the actual workshop in Texel there were interactions with the participants, there were questions, there was some brainstorming, there was sharing of experiences and a live demo; that is what we cannot reproduce using this medium.

- The topic would require further elaboration, and a brief talk can only outline the basic idea. However, fear not! I wrote a paper to fully articulate this idea; I am now in the editing stage, and the paper will be hopefully published in November. I will keep you posted.

- Last but not least: credits! My live demo, kind of summarized in video number 3, originally comes from this great video about evolution. The flashing pictures in the last segment come from the Department of Psychology of the University of British Columbia, Canada. You can find them here. The quote of Darwin’s critic comes from this TED talk by Daniel Dennet.

And… what else… ah! enjoy!! :)
And fire off an email if you have any comments, suggestions or questions!

Update:

I wrote a paper based on this presentation, addressing the issue in more detail.
I submitted the paper to the InterAction Journal, hopefully it will be published in the November issue.

Tags: paper, presentation, SOL2009, Texel

My new paper is in the final stages of editing.

Sneak Peek from the abstract:

This paper suggests the relevance of Solution-Focused training for military personnel and decision makers. More specifically, training in Solution-Focused protocols could help military leaders to acquire the set of skills and attitudes necessary to implement Counter-Insurgency strategies.

I will keep you posted about developments.

For comments on the topic, or for further insights, please do no hesitate to contact me!
I will be happy to include any interesting comment in the paper, as long as it is relevant to the subject.

Tags: COIN, military leaders, paper, Solution Focused, US Armed Forces

If you are like me, to stick with a resolution to change a behavior you need tools.

Simple tools:
a food journal to monitor your food habits and calories intake, if you are working on your weight;
a training log if you are competing in a triathlon or training for a marathon;
a table to show you when and where you are at your most resourceful and when and where you need to be extra-alert to avoid slipping back; graphs to chart your progress; tricks and strategies to deal successfully with specific situations (temptations) and the occasional failures.

Tools like that are the core of my Self-Directed Change Workshop and Coaching program.

The Workshop teaches people how to change problem behaviors.
You will learn what you wished you learned in school, but are not taught in school: principles of self-regulation.
The workshop is delivered at clients’ locations: schools and businesses.

The Coaching program helps clients learn principles of self-regulation by supporting them in changing a specific problem behavior, step-by-step, week-by-week.
Coaching is delivered via Skype, and the tools to monitor the progress are sent over email.

You do not need to attend a Workshop to enroll in the Coaching program: all you need to learn about self-regulation is conveyed to you as feedback while you are coached on changing a specific behavior.

Most common topics clients want to work on: weight management; procrastination; studying; social anxiety; stress reactions; assertiveness; developing new behaviors; relaxation; exercise.

If you ever thought about change, this is the time!

Tags: coaching, products, self-directed behavior, self-regulation, workshop

New Year, new programs for my clients!

The Increase Your Life-Satisfaction Program. Be happier! Yes you can!
This coaching program is designed around the most recent breakthroughs in Positive Psychology. Its easy-to-use, step-by-step format reflects the experience I gained in years of coaching people re Quality of Life issue.
You will have a unique opportunity to use the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire to measure your “happiness level”. You will learn how a good part of your happiness level is determined by what you do (vs. who you are or what your circumstances are).
You will discover which of the 15 activities that bring happiness is best for you. You will be coached on how to practice those activities and weave them in your life. Lat but not least, you will be happy :) to discover the positive impact of our work together by taking the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire again.

Given the hard times, isn’t it time to focus on what is under our control that can make us happier rather than relying on external factors like wealth???
Do not miss the opportunity to live a more fulfilling life!
Contact me to learn how this program can fit your needs.

PS: I want to introduce you to the program personally. So be patient if I do not reply right away: I am busy giving my full attention to my clients, and that is what you will be enjoying soon!!

Tags: coaching, life satisfaction, new programs, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, positive psychology

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Since September:

- I led 4 workshops on Conflict Management (Crif, VM motori, Festo), 3 workshops on Stress Management (Vm motori, Festo), 3 workshops on Problem Solving (Crif, Vm motori), 1 workshop on Persuasive Communication (Yale)

- I led 2 Assessment Centers (SAME)

- I led 4 Development Centers (Burgo)

- I supervised one colleague (coach); I coached 2 managers (SAES); I coached an executive team (individual coaching session, 6 coachees; Molmed)

Pretty busy!!
Again, I am very impressed by how my clients are able to work and thrive in the face of very difficult challenges!! Kudos. Always in awe, always learning myself.

January and February are usually slow, and I will have more time to post and to develop new materials.
I kept working on projects falling into the category “important but not urgent”, though:
- my article on “solution-focused protocols and evolutionary thinking” is pretty much done; it will be the basis of my presentation in Texel
- another article, on Solution-Focused Approaches vis-à-vis U.S. armed forces COIN operations, is almost completed
- as I mentioned in the previous post, I tweaked my workshop materials, based on the response from the participants and based on some new research results that got recently published
- I completed the booklets of materials (slides, forms, mind maps, teaching aids…) regarding two new programs I will launch in 2009: one is a program in “Self-Directed Behaviors” – teaching life skills to youths; the other one is a coaching program aimed at increasing Life Satisfaction, based on positive psychology and the science of happiness
- I listened to a ton of podcasts: Brainscience, Skeptoid, WNYC Radio Lab, NPR science… they are an awesome resource, and fun to listen to while I am traveling on a train going to clients or coming back home; they are a great way to keep up-to-date and find new evidence-based practices that could be useful to clients!

Stay tuned, 2009 will be exciting!

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Tags: articles, clients, updates