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Becoming a Solution Detective

Identifying Your Clients' Strengths in Practical Brief Therapy

• By Terry S. Trepper, John Sharry, Brendan Madden, Melissa Darmody

• Price: $19.95
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Pages: 134
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 9th May 2003
• ISBN: 978-0-7890-1834-2

About the Book

Becoming a Solution Detective is a practical, how-to guide for therapists, counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and other professionals who are interested in making their practice solution-focused—quickly and effectively. The authors, co-founders of the Brief Therapy Group in Dublin, Ireland, demystify the process of psychotherapy, making the concept of solution-based therapy accessible and relevant through case examples, practice exercises, and role-plays. The book's hands-on approach allows practitioners to adopt the authors' simple, self-teaching style and apply it to their work with clients.

Becoming a Solution Detective explains complicated psychological concepts in a simple and concise manner with a jargon-free clarity that allows the ideas to be applied and understood by a much wider readership than traditional therapists. The book provides a framework for the solution-based approach to problem-solving that extends beyond the limits of psychotherapy and counseling into the areas of education, personal development, conflict resolution, organizational consultancy, and life management. Each chapter contains a case study with sample answers and approaches, tables, and practice exercises.

Becoming a Solution Detective includes practical information on:

• differences between the solution-based approach and traditional therapy
• establishing a successful therapeutic alliance with clients
• determining detailed, meaningful goals for the client
• mapping the client’s journey to a solution
• possible “dead ends” in applying this type of therapy
• and much more!

Becoming a Solution Detective is equally effective for newcomers to solution-focused therapy and professionals seeking to apply its principles to their own practices. As an academic textbook, the book is ideal for individual study in a variety of courses, including social work, counseling, nursing, psychology, education, and any other helping professions.

Table of Contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Becoming a Solution Detective
• Chapter 2. Starting Where You Are At
• Chapter 3. Where Do You Want to Go?
• Chapter 4. How Far Have You Come?
• Chapter 5. What Is the Next Step?
• Chapter 6. When Therapy Doesn’t Go Well
• A Final Note
• Appendix: Key to Case Studies
• References
• Index

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