SFBTA 2010 – Banff, Canada

This year the SFBTA (Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Association) conference was held in Banff, Alberta – in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, in one of the most amazing Natural Parks that North America has to offer.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate: it was snowing and overcast most of the time, with temperatures well below zero (C and F). On the other hand, this might have been a blessing in disguise: less tempted to roam around, participants all pretty much stayed in the warm and cozy Banff Centre, a fact that favored workshop attendance and the forming of new great professional connections.

What follows is a very personal account of the highlights of the SFBTA 2010 Conference based on my own experiences and interests – the good, the excellent and the just OK.

Opening Plenary: What is Different about SFBT? Peter De Jong and Jan Bavelas

I loved this plenary session. The presenters addressed the question in a clear, focused way, basing their answers on actual research. Using Micro-Analysis, Jan Bavelas‘ trademark tool, 3 hypothesis were tested by the research group headed by the presenters: that Solution-Focused practitioners use more positive language; that Solution-Focused practitioners use more of the client’s language; that Solution-Focused practitioners are more likely to follow-up on positive contributions offered by clients. All the 3 hypothesis turned out to be supported by evidence.

For example, regarding the first hypothesis, tested by micro-analyzing sessions by Berg and Korman (SFBT – Solution-Focused Brief Therapy) vs. Meichenbaum and Lichtenberg (both CBT – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and Miller (MT – Motivational Therapy), 100% being the total of the words uttered by the therapist:

- SF therapists used clients’ words, preserved either literally (46%) or deictically (11%), to account for 57% of all their utterances  (vs. a total of 29% in CBT and MT)

- SF therapists used clients’ words in altered form in 36% of their utterances, vs. 33% for CBT and MT; about the same

- SF therapists-added words (i.e. introduced words in the conversation that were not said by the client, in one form or the other) amounted only to 10% of the total of their utterances, vs. 35% for CBT and MT!

< thanks to A. Stellamans for posting the results of this research here, it allowed me to double check the numbers in my notes>

It was very illuminating to see  some sample videos of Solution-Focused therapists vs. Cognitive-Behavioral therapists micro-analyzed: the differences could not be more clear. The numbers support the hypotheses, but to actually notice the details in the video made those numbers real and brought home the message: SF is, indeed, different.

Another very interesting epistemological point that emerged out of this micro-analyzing is that while SF therapists are consistent in what they actually do or say during the session, CBT therapists are not, i.e. there is a big variance in the way they handle the session and in the way they use language. Which makes you wonder about the value of CBT outcome research.

Powerful Applications of the Solution-Focused Approach: Building a High Performance Team. Haesun Moon.

Having worked a lot with teams in organizations, I had a lot of expectations for this workshop. And I was not disappointed.

Haesun Moon was very engaging – something I appreciated even more after attending the next day’s workshops. I loved the mixture of different training tools used during the workshop: a couple of slides, with great animations; youtube video; interactions with and between participants; last but not least, actually working with other participants as a team to build something. On top of that there was that congruent quality that I highly appreciate in trainings (and that is the hallmark of Solutionsurfers) – by using a Solution-Focused facilitating style, the presenter offered participants an opportunity to experience right there and then the concepts that were presented. By the end of the workshop, 5 randomly-sorted groups of participants became 5 performing teams. In 75 minutes. Wow! I am sure that everyone took home many tips and ideas about how to make teams effective – I did.

Integrating Solution-focused Techniques into Trauma-informed Care. Denise Krause, Susan Green, and Jesslyn Muto.

As much as the “effective teams” workshop was engaging and full of discoveries, this workshop felt slow and very academic. Unfortunately, no data or research was presented. It was an attempt to make participants see that Trauma Informed Care and Solution-Focus dovetail. The most useful part was when the presenters asked what the participants were doing that was helpful in working with clients who experienced trauma. The answers were very illuminating and it was a clear demonstration of the quality of the people who attended and of the importance of their work. Another useful part was the discussion of why we might want to frame the SF approach in terms of Trauma-informed care:  the system is geared towards treating trauma, and the word trauma itself is a magic word to get funding, so when writing proposals it is best to frame the SF approach into TIC language.

How can I use microanalysis to be a better SF practitioner, trainer, teacher, or supervisor? A two-day workshop with Janet Bavelas, Sara Healing and Christine Tomori, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria

The micro-analysis workshop for me was the icing on the cake. Honestly, I would not have travelled all the way to Banff had it not been for Bavelas’ workshop. Learning to micro-analyze therapeutic interactions was fun, thanks to the technology and to the effective real-time coaching provided by Bavelas and by her team, Sara Healing and Christine Tomori. Working in pairs gave participants the opportunity to pool their noticing skills and to see even more in the interactions being analyzed – so a big shout-out goes to all my fellow micro-analysts.

Understanding how masterfully Insoo Kim Berg could use a “of course” or a “right” to either stop a conversational track in a gentle way or to move the conversation forward was a huge insight. And working in a small group with Yvonne Dolan and hear her say: “I learnt something from Paolo today…“. Priceless. Janet Bavelas is a very skilled instructor, continually opening up new vistas with her comments, not to mention the fact that she is a treasure trove of information regarding research in psychotherapy. I appreciated very much her kindness and her willingness to strike up conversations about that research in informal settings, when technically it was her time off. One of the key insights I had as a result of the workshop: it is not true that Solution-Focus does not have a theory; as a matter of fact, it has a very sophisticated theory, but it is not based on etiology, rather it is based on interactions and on the use of language.

Personally, I am going to use what I learned at the workshop in at least two ways:

1) in Solutionsurfers Brief-Coach Training, to help trainees develop a sense of what a Solution-Focused conversation is. And to appreciate how even one simple utterance can steer a conversation different ways

2) as Deliberate Practice, to hone my skills. By taping my coaching sessions and see what I could have said / done differently.

Of course, besides the official learning imparted in workshops, it was the dense network of growing connections that make such conferences a big hit. I am grateful that I got to meet so many new wonderful people, and so thankful that I had the opportunity to deepen the connection with people I had the privilege to meet before I traveled to Banff.

One of the most interesting themes that came up again and again was the curiosity participants expressed towards SOL. Having attended both SOL events and now SFBTA events, I was surprised by how little participants of SFBTA know about SOL, and by how curious they are about it. I was also surprised by how many therapists are drawn to organizational development work.

Sure there is a way to bridge the gap?

This posting of mine is a small step in that direction…

Thanks to the organizing committee and to everybody who made SFBTA 2010 possible.

Tags: Banff, conference, deliberate practice, Haesun Moon, Janet Bavelas, microanalysis, Peter De Jong, SF research, SFBTA 2010, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Association, TIC, workshops, Yvonne Dolan