Creating Sustainable Results with Solution-Focused Applied Psychology: A Practical Guide for Coaches and Change Facilitators

221 Pages·2023·8.913 MB·English

by  Louis Cauffman

‘Cauffman explores how solution-focused thought and practice may be
applied to create diverse social contexts of change. He teases out the syn-
ergistic processes through which change emerges in solution focused
client-practitioner interactions. Cauffman’s discussion of professional
mandates is particularly intriguing. It has important implications for un-
derstanding how professional authority is exercised in client-practitioner
interactions. This is a coherent narrative linking early influences on solu-
tion focused pioneers with current themes in the field. Cauffman’s accessible
writing style makes the book appropriate as an introduction to the solution
focused approach, and as an organizing framework for seminars involving
experienced practitioners.’
Gale Miller, emeritus professor, Department of
Social and Cultural Sciences Marquette University,
Wisconsin, USA
‘The solution-focused orientation is applicable in many human relation
fields including coaching, psychotherapy, and team building in the business
world. The approach has considerable depth although to those who only
examine the surface it may seem pedestrian. We are blessed to have Louis
Cauffman as a guide into the nuances of the method. Cauffman helps us
bring out the best in our clients and helps us to bring out the best in our
selves. Creating Sustainable Results with Solution-Focused Applied Psychol-
ogy is an essential text for change agents of all types. Principles are clearly
covered, and case studies provide background for those who will apply the
methods. This book should be required reading for all those in human re-
lations fields.’
Jeffrey K. Zeig, The Milton H. Erickson Foundation,
Phoenix, USA

Creating Sustainable Results
with Solution-Focused
Applied Psychology
This practical, evidence-based guide details how professional practitioners
and change facilitators can integrate a solution-focused approach into their
daily work and practice.
While conventional therapeutic methods centre on the assumption that
problems arise due to deficiencies, and therefore focus on diagnosis and
subsequent treatment, the solution-focused approach is resource-based and
operates on the assumption that human beings always have resources at
their disposal to move forward. Free from the burden of detailed problem
analysis, the solution-focused approach prioritizes clients’ hope for change
in their lives and taps into the opportunities and resources available to bring
about such transformation. The solution-focused practitioner is able to de-
sign incisive interventions that are flexible enough to adapt to any situation
clients might find themselves in, and this book provides a practical formu-
lation that is immediately applicable to all professional fields of applied
psychology.
Creating Sustainable Results with Solution-Focused Applied Psychology is
important reading for therapists and coaches of all schools of thought, as
well as anyone who practices as a professional change facilitator, including
social workers, mediators, business leaders, and educators.
Louis Cauffman is a clinical psychologist and business economist with a
wide range of therapeutic training, ranging from Systemic Family Therapy
to Ericksonian Hypnotherapy through all possible directions within the
solution-focused approach. One of the first to introduce the solution-focused
approach in Europe, Louis remains passionate in his further development of
the solution-focused approach as an epistemological tool. Louis is a highly
praised international consultant, coach, and trainer. More information can
be found at www.louiscauffman.com

Creating Sustainable Results
with Solution-Focused
Applied Psychology
A Practical Guide for Coaches and
Change Facilitators
Louis Cauffman
Designed cover image: Photograph taken by author. Private collection.
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Louis Cauffman
The right of Louis Cauffman to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-33539-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-33538-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-32010-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003320104
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
‘If you don’t know what you don’t know, you’re happy with what
you already know.’
Prof. dr. C. Hange
Black Mountain University
‘If you don’t know what is right, go left’
Prof. dr. Diana Issolvante
Montenegro Universidad
In grateful memory of Steve and Insoo

Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Foreword xv
Note from the author xvii
Introduction: simple is not easy 1
Add lightness! 1
The solution cube 2
Beyond techniques 3
Your personal 3-D solution cube 3
Gender, footnotes & readability 4
The founding father of modern therapy 4
The 10 SoFAP essentials 4
Scope of applicability 7
Terminology 8
1 The basic axioms 9
The futile quest for a comprehensive theory 9
The image of mankind behind the solution-focused psychology 10
The axiom of resource orientation 11
The axiom of resilience 13
The axiom of well-being 15
The axiom of client-orientation 16
The axiom of systemic thinking 22
The four-leaf clover: cognition, emotion, behavior, and interaction 28
Conclusion 29
2 What always works in good facilitation? 31
Change agents and coaching 32
Clients are the best teachers 33
Know thyself 34