SIMPLY FOCUS Podcast: The Good Life Approach - Your podcast with the little extra Solution Focus for your daily life!

Listen for the brilliance of others. It makes a huge difference! In this episode of our SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, we talk about Solution Focused listening. Find out what we love about the topic “listening” and what differences it makes when we listen for the brilliance of people. Learn about the “T study” that shows that as listeners we are co-narrators: when we listen attentively people are much better storytellers. Get to know Nancy Kline’s time to think or how a good thinking environment produces better results, and listen how we do the “thinking rounds” and what differences these make in our relationship and our family life. In Solution Focused Listening we listen for the brilliance of people, their preferred future, everything that works, and signs of progress, then we select exact words of the other person that reflect that, and build with our questions and their answers a useful conversation (see also episode #4 – the Art of asking great Solution Focused questions). Check out how listen – select – build can be used in everyday conversations or how Dominik’s mum found 20 things that are already going in the right direction. And last but not least the weekly challenge: Chose one conversation each day where you decide to listen in a Solution Focused way for the brilliance of your conversation partner. After the conversation take a few minutes and discover what differences this made. Enjoy! The post SFP 6 – Solution Focused Listening appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Monica Rotner about Solution Focused Leadership live! In today’s episode of our SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, Elfie talks with Monica Rotner, Division Manager of the Community Justice Service in Boulder, about what fascinates Monica with Solution Focus, the differences Solution Focus makes in her daily life as a leader, examples of what she does as a leader and how these enhance co-creating an environment for change. They explore how they co-created a different kind of work environment in her division 8 years ago. Find out how she dealt with unrealistic inputs in the process of co-creating their vision and how she deals with things that cannot be done as they are non-negotionable. Learn how they applied scales and scaling questions to co-create scaling questions to co-create strategies to get from the current reality to the future vision and how they keep the vision a living thing that’s always changing too. Monica knows the importance of walking the talk as a leader and the differences staying curious makes. And check out the weekly challenge: Take a few minutes every day and notice the people around you that are inspiring one tiny little way of doing something different. It might not even be somebody you know. It just could be somebody you see on the street who inspires you. Be observant and look around for people that are role models. The post SFP 7 – Effective Leadership with Solution Focus: Interview with Monica Rotner appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Pamela King about play as Intervention. In today’s episode of our SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, we talk with Pamela K. King, Author, Speaker, Trainer & Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, about what fascinates her about Solution Focus, how she finds the path with children towards their solutions, what helps her to find out what kids like to start a conversation and how she manages to engage young kids in a good conversation. She tells us a great example of how she and a 5-year old kid with his mother used HOPSCOTCH, his favorite game, to scale and playfully talk about his life and the importance of noticing and using what’s right in front of you. Learn how she also applies Solution Focused play and toys in her trainings with organisations and find out what Steve de Shazer told her the first time they met. Check out what differences Solution Focus makes in her work as an employer and how she amplifies greatness and uniqueness of others. And play in the weekly challenge: Notice at least once a day the opportunities to play and step in: Do jump in with both feed and play at least once a day! The post SFP 8 – Let’s play…: Interview with Pamela K. King appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Dr. Stephen Langer has 34 years of experience in Solution Focused Brief Therapy. In today’s episode of our SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, we talk with Dr. Stephen Langer, a clinical psychologist and president of the Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association, about what fascinates Steve about Solution Focus, what is still the fascination to stick to this approach since 1984, and what he does that people come alive, start being hopeful, are more positive, start looking forward to things, and figure out their next steps towards their desired future. Hear how he is persistent in being curios to find out what his clients want to get out of the session and what they want different in their life that might somehow help them to move forward and have a better life. Find out more about the importance of really small and simple things people can do to get started and how exception seeking and good and meaningful tasks can still be very valuable for clients. He furthermore describes some of his favorite experiments and the differences they can make and the tasks of the Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association (SFBTA) and the Conference in November 2018. Check out the weekly challenge: Do at least one thing every week for your partner or a loved one that this person is likely to remember a month later. And the challenge is that it does not cost money or is no more than 5 dollars. The post SFP 9 – Persistent in being curios: Interview with Dr. Stephen Langer about Solution Focused Brief Therapy appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Janet Bavelas about microanalysis of face-to-face dialogue. In today’s episode of our SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, we talk with Janet Beavin Bavelas, Ph.D., F.R.S.C., Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Victoria, about what fascinates Janet about Solution Focus, what fascinates Janet about microanalysis (moment-by-moment analysis) of face-to-face dialogues, how she stayed curious to unfold and demystify all these things around communication, and what helped Janet to focus on the interaction even in times when people mainly focused on inner concepts and to start her career as a scientist on that. We talk about what she and her team see and see differently than others when they look at face-to-face dialogues moment-by-moment in microanalysis. Find out what calibration is, what is happening there and how that could be important for everyday conversations and for Solution Focus. Check out what changed for Janet since they wrote "Pragmatics of Human Communication" more than 50 years ago. Learn about hand gestures, facial gestures, and gaze and common misunderstandings around these co-speech gestures. Janet also talks about the overall goal of her research over the years and she challenges you in the challenge of the week: Look at one and the same conversation in two ways: First, look at only one person and start thinking hard about what’s going on in the person's mind, look at what the person is feeling, why she/he is doing what she/he does, what the person is thinking, focus completely on the individual. Go and get a coffee and afterwards look at the same conversation again. Look only at what’s happening between the people. What you are looking for has to be what somebody does observably - physically or vocally - that the other person would notice and that was aimed at the other person, that would effect the other person. The post SFP 10 – Seeing Interaction: Interview with Janet Beavin Bavelas appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Haesun Moon about microanalysis and language of hope. In today’s episode of our SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, we talk with Haesun Moon, Co-Director of the Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching, about what fascinates Haesun about Solution Focus and microanalysis of face-to-face dialogue, what differences microanalysis makes for her as a teacher and as a person, and how it enhances «real life» learning - from day one on of the Solution Focused Coaching training. Learn how dialogue cannot be divided and is the smallest unit to study and about the importance of microanalysis for everyone in dialogic practice. Haesun tells the heart touching story of how «Language of Hope» came about, how this changed her life, and how she wants to see that dialogues change at home, at school and at the work place. Find out more about Haesun’s thesis and the way she studies «hope» in dialogue, how there is always another way at looking at things, and how your choice of looking at dialogue is worthwhile to observe. Check out the Challenge of the week - the Complaining exercise: You are pairing up, one person is complaining, the other person is listening for 5 solid minutes, then the listener gives the complaining person a feedback on what the person is caring about. Listen with the filter: what does that person really care about? We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the BRIEFFEST in Toronto! The post SFP 11 – Language of Hope: Interview with Haesun Moon appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Dr. Thorana Nelson about SF Supervision, the interactional view, and relationships. In today’s episode of our SIMPLY FOCUS podcast, we talk with Dr. Thorana Nelson, a.o. Professor Emerita of Utah State University and author of many Solution Focused books about what fascinates her about Solution Focus (SF), how she got in touch with SF and how she met Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg and was then involved in the Hammond Conversations that led to SFBTA and the SFBTA Conferences (a great example of friendpower). Find out how her fascination for SF stays and is growing, how formulation (listen – select – build) was «like a light coming on» for her, and how important it is to deliberately choose and ignore things. Check out what Rana picks and what she leaves out when doing Supervision, what makes her so passionate about Supervision, and the importance of “what do they want” and “what’s important to them”. Rana furthermore shares her passion for systemic thinking (the interactional view) and the power of relationships (and relationship questions). And we talk about her new book that she is about to finish where she brings together systemic thinking for SF therapists and SF thinking (stance and practices) for family therapists. Are you up for the Challenge of the week? Just a few times next week, stop and think about what’s happening that you made this choice, slow yourself down and think what are you going to keep, what are you going to ignore, and what are you going to add that will work towards your goal. And please let Rana know in the comments section what you liked about it. The post SFP 12 – Interactional Relationships: Interview with Dr. Thorana Nelson appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Victor Nelson shows us Solution Focus at work. In today’s episode, we talk with Victor Nelson, a Solution Focused Pastoral Counselor and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, what fascinates him about Solution Focus and how a Solution Focused stance is unique for so many professionals. Find out what he does when he combines spirituality with Solution Focus, how he introduced a Solution Focused way of working with church congregations, and how spirituality (spiritual journeys) and Solution Focus connect for Vic and Elfie. Get to know how he was introduced to Solution Focus by his wife Dr. Thorana Nelson and got interested in a very effective Solution Focused program for violent offenders that he applied in his own counseling center. Check out how they brought SF to the community and learn more about the Solution Focused community worldwide (SFBTA, EBTA, colleagues in Europe and China, etc.). Explore how as a leader Victor empowered his employees to use their best abilities, how he applies SF in class and how he supports his graduate students to become professionals. And get a glimpse at his work, his funny stories and his application of SF in his fly fishing shop and learn more about his advice to be willing to join the Solution Focused community and ways to do that. The challenge of the week: Become aware of the kind of questions you use in your conversations with the Good Questions Diary. The post SFP 13 – Solution Focus at Work: Interview with Victor Nelson appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Elfie Czerny & Dominik Godat about inspiring others. In today’s episode, we talk about where we are right now and where we are heading next, we explore what inspired us in the interview podcasts we did with Jonathan D. Sherman, Monica Rotner, Pamela King, and Stephen Langer. And we added a little extra fun at the end for you to enjoy and smile. And what inspired you in these four episodes? Check out SFP 5 – Episode 5: The GREAT Relationship: Interview with Jonathan D. Sherman, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist; SFP 7 – Episode 7: Effective Leadership with Solution Focus: Interview with Monica Rotner, Division Manager of the Community Justice Service, Boulder; SFP 8 – Episode 8: Let’s play…: Interview with Pamela K. King, Author, Speaker, Trainer & Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist; SFP 9 – Episode 9: Persistent in being curios: Interview with Dr. Stephen Langer, clinical psychologist and president of the Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association (SFBTA) The post SFP 14 – Inspiring others: A reflection with Elfie Czerny & Dominik Godat appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Elfie Czerny & Dominik Godat about inspiring others again. In today’s episode, we talk about where we are right now and how we enjoyed two cold dips – one in Canmore and one in Calgary, we explore what inspired us in the interview podcasts, we did with Janet Bavelas, Haesun Moon, Thorana Nelson, and Victor Nelson, and we invite you to join the community. Check out SFP 10 – Episode 10: Seeing Interaction: Interview with Janet Beavin Bavelas, Ph.D., F.R.S.C., Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Victoria; SFP 11 – Episode 11: Language of Hope: Interview with Haesun Moon, Co-Director of the Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching; SFP 12 – Episode 12: Interactional Relationships: Interview with Dr. Thorana Nelson, Professor Emerita of Utah State University and author of many Solution Focused books; SFP 13 – Episode 13: Solution Focus at Work: Interview with Victor Nelson, Pastoral Counselor and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist The post SFP 15 – Inspiring others again: A reflection with Elfie Czerny & Dominik Godat appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Elfie and Dominik celebrate one year on the road. In today’s episode, we celebrate and talk about our first year on the road, some fun facts of our first year, where we are and where we are heading to next. Get to know one of our favorite Solution Focused games on the road: Solution Ping Pong. Hear some of our highlights of the first year living in our Hearty, what we did that helped us to experience these highlights, some of our learnings, what each of us contributes to make a positive difference for the others and our journey, and our best hopes for the upcoming weeks and months. Let's celebrate small successes, anniversaries and life and inspire us - in the challenge of the week - and share how you celebrate your small and big successes, your anniversaries and your precious life. The post SFP 16 – Celebrating one year on the road with Elfie Czerny & Dominik Godat & Bibiana appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Dr. Bo Yon Koh about music and teaching Solution Focus. In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Bo Yon Koh, Co-Director of the Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching, about what we like about Toronto, what fascinates her about Solution Focus, music and the connection to Solution Focus, how she uses Solution Focus in her work as a music teacher and directing work with a choir, and the concept of audiation and its connection to SF. Learn more about the importance of reflective practice, teaching Solution Focus, their learnings in teaching Solution Focus. And hear about the Brieffest Summer Intensive Coaching Training at the Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching and their passion about Solution Focus and training. Experience the value of recording your own coaching sessions in trainings and reflecting them with microanalysis. And hear what she likes and inspires her most about her work and what she is listening for. The challenge of the week: Notice and share with us in the comments what is it that you are passionate about and what attracts you to Solution Focus? The post SFP 17 – In Tune with Solution Focus: Interview with Dr. Bo Yon Koh appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Learning SF. Teaching SF. In today’s episode, we are live at Brieffest with Bo Yon Koh and Haesun moon, exploring their best hopes for the Brieffest, what was most useful in the first 3 1/2 days of learning Solution Focus for the participants, the linguistic audiation model that Bo Yon Koh and Haesun Moon use in their trainings to orient the clients towards the preferred future and what’s already working, and what Bo Yon Koh and Haesun Moon did that supported the participants’ learning. Check out the challenge of the week: Notice your progress and tell us how you do it and how it flows back into your own practice. The post SFP 18 – Learning together: Teaching Solution Focus at Brieffest with Bo Yon Koh and Haesun Moon appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

With Alan Kay at the round table. In today’s episode, we talk with Alan Kay, a Solution Focused Change Facilitator, about what fascinates him about Solution Focus, how he uses Solution Focus to support people in many different areas, like advertising and marketing or strategic planning and his favorite area to use Solution Focus at the moment. Find out how Solution Focus helps him in difficult situations and how he facilitates round table conversations. Learn how change begins as soon as you start asking Solution Focused questions and get t know his book “Fry The Monkeys. Create A Solution. The Solutions Facilitator’s Handbook” and the SFIO (Solution Focus in Organisations). The challenge of the week – Create your own Solution Focused application: „Start thinking of all the things you know and the things that you have been told by people (…) and turn these concepts into a page, two pages that you can share with people. I call them applications of Solution Focus.” The post SFP 19 – At the Round Table with Alan Kay: Solution Focused Applications appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.

Brenda Zalter-Minden about FROG or Forever Recognize Other's Greatness. In today’s episode, we talk with Brenda Zalter-Minden, a Solution Focused consultant and greatness detective, about our highlights since we are here on this beautiful „honeymoon point“ island, what fascinates her and keeps fascinating her with Solution Focus, the three phases of learning the Solution Focused approach, and the FROG and the acronym „Forever Recognize Other’s Greatness“ it stands for. Learn more about the differences it makes for teams, organizations, and individuals when Brenda works with them on appreciating each other and recognizing their greatness, the different ways of giving appreciation, the appreciative power of Solution Focused questions, and playful ways of getting people up and moving. She further tells us how to learn the best ways from our conversation partners and what her favorite SF questions, the surprising "tap on the shoulder“-questions, are as well as the differences they can make. Find out how practicing Solution Focus with ourself and our loved ones can make all the difference. And check out the Challenge of the week: 1.) Come up with at least 10 things that you really admire about yourself and write those things down 2.) Get 5 small things (5 little frogs, 5 pennies, etc.) and put them in one pocket at the beginning of the day as a reminder that there has to be at least 5 people in the day that you pay a really genuine compliment to or ask an indirect compliment kind of questions of that by the end of the day that you either handed out the five frogs or have the 5 pennies in your other pocket. The post SFP 20 – Frog or Forever Recognize Other’s Greatness: Interview with Brenda Zalter-Minden appeared first on SF on tour with Elfie J. Czerny & Dominik Godat.