Category Archives: A Strengths Approach

A Strengths Approach, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 079: How can we ‘do’ recovery?

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2In recent episodes I have explored the meaning of recovery and concluded that I fully support the original intentions of its service user creators, but despair at the corporate take-over and misappropriation of a good idea. I have also explored how the ‘can do’ strengths approach lends practical reality to the conceptual language of recovery. But how does recovery happen in practice?

In this episode I explore some of the resistance that it, and most new concepts, confront alongside the challenges within a deep-rooted culture that need to change in order to provide the conditions for these good ideas to flourish. I also explore the tools that have been created to implement recovery, but argue in favour of choice if we are to inhabit the service user’s life with the trappings of bureaucracy. Finally, I identify recovery as yet another concept where family/carers express concerns at feeling like they are an afterthought in the discussion of what happens in the delivery of a service.

For the full content of this episode click on the links to iTunes or Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/079-how-can-we-do-recovery/id867043694?i=355718152&mt=2

“Recovery is something you have to work on every single day, and it’s something that doesn’t get a day off.” [Demi Lovato].

 

A Strengths Approach, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 078: Making sense of recovery

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2Having explored the concept of recovery in the previous episode I concluded that I fully support the original service users’ intentions but despair at the corporate take-over of manifestly good ideas in order to decorate their own complex and confused way of going about things.

As a realist I have to accept that recovery has become a leading mantra headlining the development of 21st century mental health services, but I struggle with the degree of confusion expressed by so many practitioners who would rather not be asked to describe what it actually means. What does the Strengths Approach lend to this set of circumstances?

In this episode I compare the language of the principles of recovery with the practical ‘doing it’ approach offered by the strengths movement. We can sit around and talk about conceptualisations as long as we like, but at some point someone has to do something, and that is where the strengths approach comes into its own.

For the full content of this episode click on the links to iTunes or Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/078-making-sense-of-recovery/id867043694?i=353576161&mt=2

“I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures.” [Gail Caldwell].

A Strengths Approach, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 077: What is recovery?

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2‘Recovery’ can simply be described as to regain, get back or restore something which has been lost, but in health and social care services we don’t tend to go for the simple and straight forward, particularly when confused and complicated are on offer.

I fully support the concept of recovery, as it was originally identified by service users, but I despair at how easily those in power feel able to misappropriate good ideas to dress up their otherwise complex demands. Now I tend to see recovery as something designed by service users, hijacked by commissioners, managers and politicians, and crashed by practitioners.

In this episode I explore how a uniquely personal and individual concept of great merit and purpose has become subsumed into the corporate world of strategic direction, and subsequently lost in translation. The original pioneers foretold in warnings of how the concept will lose its power when it becomes systematised, but the world of bureaucracy is not known for heeding warnings, particularly if they don’t appeal to the perpetual need to homogenise the individual experience.

For the full content of this episode click on the links to iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/077-what-is-recovery/id867043694?i=353576160&mt=2

“You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town.” [Anne Lamott].

A Strengths Approach, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 076: What is solution focused therapy?

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2Solution Focused Therapy has been established in the US since the early 1970’s, but didn’t make an impact in Europe until the mid to late 1980’s.

The approach is largely attributed to Steve de Shazer, and has garnered considerable favour with the attibution of ‘Brief’ in front of its title. Many clients and practitioners alike favour the specific focus on finding solutions through brief interactions and short term interventions. In my work presenting a strengths approach I have often encountered practitioners asking ‘isn’t this a bit like Brief Solution Focused Therapy?’

In this episode I examine the strengths credentials of this approach, with reference to its underlying core principles, the therapeutic roles of clients and practitioners, and its therapeutic approach underpinned by specific lines of inquiry. Discover the secrets of the ‘miracle question’.

For the full content of this episode click the links for iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/076-what-is-solution-focused/id867043694?i=352344729&mt=2

“Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.” [Niels Bohr].

A Strengths Approach, Person-centred working, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 075: What is motivational interviewing?

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2We all know what motivation is… it is what gets us out of bed and out of the door. But what if you have a problem with alcohol, or with misuse of other drugs? What role does motivation play in our desire or ability to change our behaviour patterns?

In this episode I explore the strengths-based credentials of the concept of motivational interviewing. Introduced by William Miller in the early 1980’s, this has become a prominent therapeutic intervention in the field of substance misuse, but what is the concept based on, and how does it work in practice? I attempt to briefly explore some of the questions posed here, look at the strengths & motivational interviewing research, and establish a link to the cycle of change.

For the full content of this episode click on links to iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/075-what-is-motivational-interviewing/id867043694?i=351577833&mt=2

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” [Confucius].

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” [C.S. Lewis].

A Strengths Approach, Person-centred working, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 074: What is positive psychology?

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2Take a picture of this… it’s 1998 and Martin Seligman is just installed as president of the American Psychological Association. He challenges the massed ranks of psychology professionals to change their fundamental ethos, from a focus on pathology to a pursuit of what makes for an excellent life.

Positive Psychology is born; but does it match up to its claims to be the birth of a strengths way of thinking for developing a healthy and fulfilling life? Probably not; but what psychologists can lay a more robust claim to is applying the life scientific to a strengths approach.

In this episode I explore the underlying claims and concepts that have become known as positive psychology, and also identify how it is put into practice. I also outline the virtues and character strengths that make up the ‘manual of the sanities’.

For the full content of this episode click on the links to iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/074-what-is-positive-psychology/id867043694?i=351577834&mt=2

“Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” [Elbert Hubbard].

A Strengths Approach, Organisations, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 073: What is appreciative inquiry?

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2AI is more frequently known as Artificial intelligence, but in the context of organisational change I am focusing this episode on Appreciative Inquiry. But, apart from the simple assumption of showing some appreciation to another person, what is it?

David Cooperrider and colleagues have claimed this to be a uniquely strengths-based approach to the leadership and management of organisational change; and also that strengths-based management may just be the management innovation of our time!

However, the concept of change does not sit easily with everyone; for one thing, it can give the impression that there is never enough time to implement some seriously good ideas before the next management initiative is passed down.

In this episode I outline the strengths credentials of Appreciative Inquiry, its 4-dimensional cycle, as well as the 5 principles and 6 essential conditions for it to occur. It may require skilled facilitation by a trained practitioner, but it also offers all of us a positive language to adopt and apply to our own thinking about the organisations we presently inhabit.

For the full content of this episode click the links to iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/073-what-is-appreciative-inquiry/id867043694?i=351497308&mt=2

“A well designed system filled with ordinary but well-trained people can still achieve consistently high performance; whereas a badly designed system can make a genius look like an idiot.” [Pfeffer and Sutton].

A Strengths Approach, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 069: Strengths-Based Reviews

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2Whether it is the occasional personal reflection or the more structured process in service delivery, we all review our progress from time to time. The purpose is to check in on the progress of our plans and actions towards the achievement of our priorities and goals, and just occasionally to check how we are managing lifes crises.

In UK mental health service the process has become known as the Care Programme Approach (CPA) since 1991. A simple set of indisputable principles were quickly transformed into practices that leave a lot to be desired. The power of a bureaucratic administrative stranglehold has never been more clearly illustrated than in the case of reviews by audited target setting. ‘Person-centred’ is a smoke and mirrors claim for something purposely designed to make services look good on a balance-sheet.

In this episode I outline how the genuine intention of person-centred review can be regained through a visionary, strengths-based and creative approach to individual reviews. It includes a series of questions we should all be constantly asking of ourselves in order to stay on the person-centred track. A Strengths Approach applies equally to people and the processes we come to wrap them up in.

For the full content of this episode click on the links to iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/069-strengths-based-reviews/id867043694?i=348334287&mt=2

“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.” [Carl Rogers].

A Strengths Approach, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 068: Working with Strengths Case Study

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2Working with Strengths is a consistent process of identifying strengths through a strengths assessment, leading to the identification of personal priorities. These priorities become the separate strengths-based support plans, but the identified strengths also apply in managing crises and concerns.

In this episode this whole process is illustrated through the details of the case study of Aluna, an African lady arriving in London at a young age, but the victim of horrendous abuses. The case study illustrates how the initial information we receive sets up a very narrow and generally negative picture of a person. Time is the ultimate requirement in order to encourage someone to build trust and engage with services that can be of help and support. The process of engaging trust is most successfully achieved through a focus on a person’s capabilities, not by just keeping them focused on the problems and difficulties they experience.

Aluna was very clear what she wanted, and how she could work with certain services to achieve her aims, but both she and the services held concerns that a strengths approach can also be adapted to resolve.

For the full content of this episode click on the links to iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/068-working-strengths-case/id867043694?i=348334286&mt=2

“If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.” [Abraham Maslow].

 

A Strengths Approach, Podcast Episodes

Podcast Episode 067: Strengths-Based Questions

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TheStrengthsRevolution_albumart_2-2When delivering ideas about a strengths approach I am frequently confronted by the need for practitioners to discuss their most extreme example of a severly depressed completely entrenched person who has no strengths.

My immediate response is that everyone has strengths, just on some occasions it is a greater challenge identifying and developing them. The real failure of perception is to take the superficial picture as the whole picture. We need to dig beyond the surface in creative ways that respond to each individual and their personal circumstances.

In this episode I outline 10 questions to keep in mind when the search for strengths proves most challenging. These questions have some similarlity with the approach adopted in Brief Solution Focused Therapy, with an emphasis on exception-finding, scaling, coping and what’s better types of questions.

For the full content of this episode click on the links to iTunes and Sound Cloud (or go to Stitcher Radio):

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/strengths-revolution-steve/id867043694

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/067-strengths-based-questions/id867043694?i=346798305&mt=2

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” [Tom Landry].