The long-awaited second edition of Ben Furman and Tapani Ahola's acclaimed Solution Talk, a trailblazing text in the field of solution-focused therapy.

Furman and Tapani define and extend the range of solution-focused thinking from the consulting room to the workplace, and have begun a revolution in problem solving in management that works on the same principles as those between the therapist and client.

A classic text, and even more relevant today than when it was first published.

From Luis Cauffman's introduction:

Solution talk has some very distinct features that all go back to this one (Ericksonian) conviction: the client knows best, although he or she is not always aware of this.

If you read Ben and Tapani's wonderful stories, you will be surprised by an experience that all psychotherapists have: reality is much more interesting than what one can invent from behind a desk.

The following characteristics of solution talk are scattered throughout the book:

• The only goals worth working towards are the goals of the clients. Therapists can unlearn the importance of their own goals for the therapy when they realise that this is getting them and their clients nowhere. So only the client's goals count.
• Focusing on what ­ despite the problems that drive them into therapy ­ (still) work well for clients. Life is more than the problems that bring clients to therapy. There is always a broad base of things that go well in the life of the client. To tap into these resources creates rapid, lasting and satisfying results for the client.
• There is not a single imaginable problem that is always there to the same degree (except death ­ and that is not a problem but a limitation). One can always find exceptions to the problem. Starting out with these exceptions provides the client with a short cut to his or her own solutions.

These characteristics of solution talk can be translated by using solution-focused questions:

• "What should we talk about today so that this meeting is useful to you?"
• "What is so valuable in your life that you certainly want to see it continued?"
• "At the times when your problem does not occur, what do you do differently?"
  

 
"Ben Furman and Tapani Ahola have written a book suffused with humour, clarity, and respect that furthers the field of solution-oriented therapy. It is a book I wish I had written"
William Hudson O'Hanlon
co-author, In Search of Solutions

"A feast for all therapists and people workers who are committed to positive results for their clients. Read it ­ you'll love it!"
Frank Farrelly
creator of Provocative Therapy