22/01/2021
I’m feeling so excited and proud! Myself, Tiffany Armitage and eight other fabulous Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) colleagues have written a book all about SFH and we’ve had our first review. The book is called, ‘The Art of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy: A Collection of Case Studies’, and we’re honoured to have a Foreword written by David Newton.
Tiff and I are finishing off the editing process and plan to publish early next month. Watch this space...
Here’s the review:
‘I really enjoyed this book, right from the introduction, which was both informative, but very readable; a term I don’t use lightly for text books.
There is a mix of approachability and professionalism within the text and the narratives, which was a theme of the book for me.
This gave a readability, accessibility and curiosity for me as someone who is not a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist. It lent itself to the book being of interest both to people within this field and to the Solution Focused community in general.
It was interesting to see how the profession can hold a combination of styles and models demonstrated within this book. There seems an ability from the clinicians within their transcripts to hold a ‘both/ and’ position of being an ‘expert’, considering brain function, for example, or giving narratives that describe ‘how things are’, whilst at the same time being able to allow Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) to flow into and through their sessions. To do this and not come across as ‘expert’ or ‘uncertain’, is a complex skill, but each of the chapters seemed to offer this range in some degree or another, with clinicians showing knowledge and humanity within their approach.
Strong SFT elements sit within the work; the importance of a clear goal, inviting the client to notice exceptions and change, alongside of an openness to other ideas, such as NLP ideas, as well as science and medical thinking. And throughout, a common voice, which is I imagine the voice of hypnotherapy training and ideas, alongside of rich and different narratives which all show a sense of caring and curiosity. There is more going on here than straight forward SFT, and to me, this is a helpful text to invite clinicians to consider the range of how one might use these ideas.
The other strength of this book is that it shows the potential effectiveness of this model with complex problems, contradicting the criticism of SFT that it is ‘not deep enough’, in the way that work of, John Hendon, for example, challenges this. There was a useful range of problems and dilemmas that added to the interest in the narrative. This book is a useful addition to the field.’
Nigel Smith
Lead Family and Systemic Psychotherapist, Livewell South West
Course convener of the Foundation in Solution Focused Therapy at Plymouth University
