Therapy's Best (By Howard Rosenthal) - Part I

* Robert Alberti on Assertiveness: teach a self-expressive style that is respectful of others; Pay attention to the "real world" of your clients/patients. Find out what really goes on in the lives of your patients/clients, and help them to discover or develop the tools they need to become the persons they want to be.

* Dorothy & Ray Becvar on Marriage Counseling: Our marriage works because we have never let the honeymoon end, meaning that we have remained aware of the importance of nurturing our relationship. What we share is mutual acceptance, respect, support, and unconditional love. - practice: interdependence, process rather than content, mutual influence/therapists perturb, behaviors as logical in context, subjectivity as inevitable, the uniqueness of each client system, the focus is on the ways in which problems are being maintained and a related search for solutions. There is awareness of the storied nature of reality and the participation of each person in its creation; both/and complementaries are valued.
Referring to clients as "resistant" or "not wanting to change" or "in denial" is evidence of the violation of the systemic paradigm. It is very difficult in therapy to get "resistance" unless one is pushing or pulling. It is a recursive dance - it cannot be otherwise from a systemic perspective.
Paradoxical injunction & Therapeutic double bind
Shared awareness - whatever we create, we do it together. So, if Ray is a "tad out of line," I always must consider my part in the process and recognize that if I want him to change, I also must be willing to change.

* Milton H. Erickson was fond of saying that peopel come in with problems they cannot solve and that what we would do was give them problems they could solve. Strength focused, abilities within self and social system to resolve problems; evoke & utilize them in the service of change

* Bob Bertolino on Solution-Oriented Brief Therapy: focus on competencies, abilities, and strengths, search for differences, exceptions, and solutions to problems, emphasize the present and the future, and view therapists and clients as being coexperts and collaborators in all aspects of the therapeutic milieu. SOBT draws attention to what people are capable of as opposed to what they are incapable of.
A future focus as helpful (Duncan, Miller, & Sparks, 2004; Miller, Duncan, & Hubble, 1997; Wampold, 2001); By working with cleints to create or rehabilitate a sense of the future we can learn what they want different in their lives. The miracle question is but one way of helping to gain a future focus. (Alfred Adler - the Question; Milton Erickson's pseudo-orientation in time - the Crystal Ball) "Let's say that as a result of us meeting together, the problem that brought you here was resolved. How would you know?" or "How will you know when the problem is no longer a problem? What specifically will be better?" or "How will you know when you no longer need to come to therapy? What will be different?"
Help clients to determine what they want different in their lives and then figure out how to make the visions come to fruition.
Exception questions are designed to orient clients to times when their concerns or problems are less dominating or absent altogether from their lives. "Tell me about a time when the problem would typically occur, but it didn't." or "How far back would you have to go to find a time when the problem didn't affect you the way it has recently? What was different?" "It seems like you've really been struggling with your concern. And as I sit here, I wonder how you've managed to make it to work on time everyday this week. How have you done it?"
CLs convince clinicians of their strengths, abilities, resources, and coping skills through actions they have already taken.
Language & Interactions; the impact of context; help CLs to "restory" or "reauthor" new narratives of hope and change
The human element in therapy. It is important to have a good understanding of the CL's story, what his or her concerns are, what their ideas are as to how change has occurred in the past and how it might occur in the future, and what strengths, abilities, and resources the CL brings into the therapeutic milieu that we can help him/her to utilize in the service of change. What CL wants; what CLs see as influences on their problems and then working with them in ways that match those perspectives;
* The miracle questions; * scaling questions; * the first session task
We ask CLs to teach us about their lives, their traditions, their rituals, and so on. We then work with CLs in ways that are respectful of how they live and breathe in the world.
We take the time to learn from clients what their concerns are and then continue this collaborative process by creating and offering ways of addressing their concerns that fit with their views.
Strengthening the therapeutic relationship and alliance
Give permission for internal experience but not permission for actions that may be harmful to self or others - "It's okay to be so angry at your mom that you'd like to yell at her and it's not okay to yell at her."
Positive change is always possible. Be hopeful and realistic. H.O.P.E. Humanism, Optimism, Possibilities, Expectancy
Be a good speaker - First, always be respectful of the audience. Acknowledge other's point of view. Don't embarrass them if they ask a question that seems out of context, inappropriate, or something you've already answered. Always treat people with respect and be genuine. Next, you can't be an expert on everything. ... Use multiple ways of engaging people. Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic. Learn from evaluations.

* Bill O'Hanlon on Possibility Therapy - It helps therapists to work with cleints to acknowledge and validate their internal experience, understand their concerns and problems, identify strengths and solutions, and remain present to future-focused without downplaying the past.