It describes the process of solution-focused intervention in a step-by-step fashion and includes case examples, sample assessment forms, and advice for how this approach can be adapted to a variety of service programs.

Written by pioneering experts in the field, More Than Miracles remains the authoritative text on solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). The final work of the world-renowned family therapists and original developers of SFBT, the late Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, this comprehensive resource informs practitioners and students in how to apply this practical, internationally acclaimed approach. With a new preface, this classic edition outlines the latest developments in the fields of family therapy, brief therapy, and psychotherapy training and practice. A succinct overview orients the reader to the current landscape of SFBT and provides three real-life case transcripts that illustrate the practical applications of SFBT techniques. The seminar format of the text allows readers to: sit in on surprising psychotherapy sessions eavesdrop on the authors' commentary about the sessions gain a comprehensive overview on the current state of SFBT review and understand the major tenets of SFBT learn specific interventions, including the miracle question and the reasons for asking it understand treatment applicability read actual session transcripts understand the "miracle scale" get insight into the unique relationship between Wittgenstein's philosophy and SFBT better understand SFBT and emotions examine misconceptions about SFBT and more Suitable for both advanced practitioners and ambitious beginners, this book is the ideal resource for anyone seeking an in-depth understanding of the SFBT approach, the concepts that inform it, and the specific techniques that characterize its implementation.

How does one change the attitudes and practices of child protective services (CPS) a statewide bureaucracy often overwhelmed and understaffed? First, take an outsider to the system, Insoo Kim Berg, who has a vision and a solution-focused model. Add an insider, Susan Kelly, who understands the system. Spend many hours with CPS workers in the field, learning from them and helping them make the shift from a deficit perspective to a collaborative model that emphasizes strengths and solutions. Envision and implement change throughout the system. Celebrate small successes on the way to building family self-sufficiency and integrity. This recipe for reforming child protective services is being followed in many public child welfare agencies, with growing success. In Building Solutions the authors explain how to conceptualize, implement, and sustain this hopeful and positive frame in a daily practice for dedicated frontline workers as well as for those in supervision, management, and administration. The book has two parts. In the first, the authors put child protective services in context, introducing the system and their new approach, giving a brief history of child protection in the United States, and setting the stage for change. In the second part, the authors walk readers through the nuts and bolts of implementation, from the first phone call to case closure including discussions about placing a child out of the home. Berg and Kelly also discuss supervision, consultation, and ongoing training, as well as their vision of the future of CPS. This book is not a manual; it is a challenge to step out of the traditional CPS "box" and think differently to create client-driven services that make sense. The authors challenge CPS administrators, supervisors, and workers to begin conversations about how the system can be more helpful and respectful to the families so that the parents can get what they need to care for their children. Building Solutions should have a place on the desk of everyone involved in child protective services."

Written by pioneering experts in the field, More Than Miracles remains the authoritative text on solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). The final work of the world-renowned family therapists and original developers of SFBT, the late Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, this comprehensive resource informs practitioners and students in how to apply this practical, internationally acclaimed approach. With a new preface, this classic edition outlines the latest developments in the fields of family therapy, brief therapy, and psychotherapy training and practice. A succinct overview orients the reader to the current landscape of SFBT and provides three real-life case transcripts that illustrate the practical applications of SFBT techniques. The seminar format of the text allows readers to: sit in on surprising psychotherapy sessions eavesdrop on the authors' commentary about the sessions gain a comprehensive overview on the current state of SFBT review and understand the major tenets of SFBT learn specific interventions, including the miracle question and the reasons for asking it understand treatment applicability read actual session transcripts understand the "miracle scale" get insight into the unique relationship between Wittgenstein's philosophy and SFBT better understand SFBT and emotions examine misconceptions about SFBT and more Suitable for both advanced practitioners and ambitious beginners, this book is the ideal resource for anyone seeking an in-depth understanding of the SFBT approach, the concepts that inform it, and the specific techniques that characterize its implementation.

Focusing on solutions and not problems, thinking about the future and not the past, and understanding the effects of miracles children do these things naturally. Here, leaders in the solution-focused approach to therapy provide clinicians with a guide to a kind of therapy that fits with children's natural way of being."

Perhaps more so than in any other situation, coaching allows practitioners to quickly forge collaborative relationships with their clients and help them maximize their performance in work and in life. Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions teaches coaches how to conduct conversations that are most useful to clients in achieving their goals within a brief period of time. The authors, two of the leading practitioners of the brief coaching method, masterfully guide readers through the steps of this process from the initial meeting to follow-up sessions to troubleshooting setbacks while illustrating essential skills with ample case examples.This book is written for coaches who want to reduce the time it takes to provide effective coaching while making the best use possible of resources the client brings to the table. At the same time it is written for the benefit of today s clients, so many of whom want to avoid coaching that is time-intensive and costly, and instead seek coaching that is organized, efficient, and affordable.Whether your clients seek a solution to a specific problem or strive toward a more general life goal, this invaluable resource will put you on the path to brief coaching success."

Clients and solution-focused therapists often accomplish remarkableresults under seemingly hopeless economic/political/social conditions.In this book mental health and social service professionals worldwidereveal how small actions can yield big changes in people's lives.

Your spouse complains about your drinking. Your boss suggests Alcoholics Anonymous. You know you have a problem. You need a solution; you need a miracle. The authors ask readers to imagine such a miracle: Suppose that while you are asleep tonight a miracle happens and your problem is solved, just like that! Because you were sleeping, you didnt know that this miracle occurred. What is the first thing tomorrow morning that will let you know that there has been a miracle and that your problem is solved? From that "first thing," the authors help readers to imagine a future where drinking is not a problem and to specify small, concrete, obtainable goals that will make that future a reality. Neither the humiliation of "hitting bottom" nor a lifetime commitment to AA is necessary to make this approach work. Instead the individual learns to recognize exceptions (times when drinking is not a problem), catch himself "doing things right," handle setbacks, and revise the "miracle picture" when things arent working. Highly practical, The Miracle Method is a radically new and effective approach to problem drinking.

At a time when the accepted standard treatment for alcoholism is long-term and expensive, solution-focused therapy, as developed at the Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee, offers a brief and cost-effective alternative. Insoo Kim Berg and Scott D. Miller believe that a focus on solutions, rather than pathology, is the most constructive strategy for working with problem drinkers; their foremost concern is with what works. To this end they don't reject traditional treatment programs; rather, they view them as one part of a flexible and multidimensional approach to alcohol abuse treatment. The authors successfully utilize solution-focused therapy in their work with problem drinkers, but it is their philosophy of working with clients and within clients' belief systems to encourage change that is at the heart of their model. The model, grounded in the philosophy of solution-focused brief therapy, introduces a paradigmatic change in the approach to substance abuse treatment. Rather than treating a problem drinker, Berg and Miller work with clients to treat problem drinking. The authors' refreshing blend of respect for their clients and optimism about their ability to stop abusive drinking offers hope to clients who can't fit into traditional long-term programs or who have given up on themselves. This book shows how clients can be helped to construct a future where drinking or substance abuse is no longer a problem. Solution-focused therapy, based on respect for and collaboration with the client, concentrates on success and solutions. Therapists develop goals with the client, rather than imposing "appropriate" treatment objectives. If one solution doesn't work, the technique not the client is blamed and client and therapist go on to "do something different." The authors' model is much more than a list of interventions; it is a multi-faceted approach to treatment, which can adapt to anything that works, whether brief therapy, AA, or more formal inpatient programs."

This book presents a new approach to therapy with problem drinkers that focuses not on the past or the present but on the "future", not on problems but on "solutions". The authors ask readers to imagine that a miracle took place while they were asleep and their problem was instantly solved. What, ask the authors, would be the first thing the next morning that indicated that a miracle had taken place and their problem was solved? From that "first thing", the authors help readers to imagine a future when drinking is not a problem and to specify small, concrete, obtainable goals that will make that future a reality. The individual learns to recognize exceptions (times when drinking is not a problem), catch himself "doing things right", handle setbacks and revise the "miracle picture" when things are not working. "The Miracle Method" is a radically new approach to problem drinking.