SOLUTION FOCUSED BRIEF THERAPY

Two Day Intensive Workshop

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a user-friendly and evidence-based approach, effective with a range of mental health and well-being issues including anxiety, depression and trauma. Its strength-base and future-focus make it ideal for situations requiring rapid client engagement and cooperation. By concentrating on a preferred future rather than a regretted past and by focusing on resources rather than deficits the solution focused approach has proved an effective model, especially useful where clients are in great difficulty and who urgently need to find a way forward.

SFBT purposefully shifts from “problem-driven” to “solution-focused” to dramatically change the outcome of treatment regardless of problem or diagnosis. Through “future-focused” questions, building on exceptions and reframing of problems, mental health professionals can steer clients away from the problem and towards change. Building on what works and emphasising client's strengths/ resources and achievable solutions, strengthens client resilience and agency. Using the client’s own language, beliefs and preferences, illuminates how to define changeable problems, along with highly meaningful and specific goals. That when presented with ideas and interventions as “suggestions” and “experiments” instead of directives, further improves the likelihood of clients taking action.

Benefits for mental health services, professionals and consumers include:

• Future-focused - avoid getting stuck with clients, addressing the same problems & symptoms week after weeks
• Evidence-based - four decades of empirical studies show success rates average 60%.
• Collaborative & respectful - uses client language, beliefs & preferences to develop meaningful & specific goals, regardless of problem or diagnosis.
• Time Efficient - low number of sessions (4-5). Reduce caseloads & wait-lists.
• Build staff morale - staff feel better about their work, clients & colleagues. Reduce burn-out.
• Contemporary - aligns with recovery model, strengths-based, positive psychology & appreciative inquiry.
• Wide application - therapy, supervision, schools, leadership.
• Simple and practical - learn in 2-days. Clients say "it makes sense".

This comprehensive introduction offers a thorough overview of SFBT with cases from mental health, trauma, substance abuse, child & adolescent difficulties. Learn when & how to use the core techniques and tools through detailed demonstrations, skills practice, discussions & videos of real therapy sessions. With an emphasis on what works, it has been presented over 700 times to mental health services across Australia & New Zealand, This 'flag-ship' workshop is the no.1 choice for Australia's leading front-line mental health services and professionals.

Presented by: Michael Durrant is Australia's leading international trainer of Solution Focused Brief Therapy. He is a psychologist and director of the Brief Therapy Institute of Sydney, Founding President of the Australasian Association for Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, an Honorary Associate in the Faculty of Education and Social Work - University of Sydney, and a visiting faculty to the Special Education Program - Fontys University, The Netherlands. He has published four books (including Creative Strategies in Schools) and numerous articles, and is particularly known for the application of Solution-Focused interventions in school and mental health contexts.

Audience: for Mental Health and Education Professionals at All Levels & Any Professional that Applies Behavioural & Developmental Science to their Practice.

Mental Health Professionals: All mental health professionals including, but not limited to Counsellors, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Hospice and Palliative Care Workers, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Addiction Specialists, Marital & Family Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants, General Practitioners, and all other mental health professionals looking to enhance their therapeutic skills.

Education Professionals: All education professionals who work with children or youth including, but not limited to K–12 Classroom Teachers, School Counsellors, Learning Assistance/Resource Teachers, School Administrators, School Paraprofessionals including Special Education Assistants, Classroom Assistants and Early Childhood Workers and all other professionals who support behavioural challenges and complex learning needs.