AI and Solution focused management?

Peggy Holman peggy at opencirclecompany.com
Sat May 28 19:52:57 PDT 2005


Re: AI and Solution focused management?Eva,

The responses below are from a similar question on the AI listserv.

Peggy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Wolinski" <swolinski at mn.rr.com>
To: "'Punya Upadhyaya, Ph.D.'" <punya at laplaza.org>; "'Fritz Walter Organisationsberatung'" <walter.berlin at snafu.de>; <ailist at lists.business.utah.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 4:54 PM
Subject: RE: [Ailist] history of ai or family tree required


> The "miracle question" that is often used, to great effect, with AI, is
> directly taken from Solution Focused Therapy.  I believe it was Steve de
> Shazer and Kim Insoo Berg who invented it.  I was trained by Berg as a
> family therapist and the miracle question was always a wonderful
> therapeutic option to use.  I find that it is one of the questions in AI
> protocols that get the biggest "wow" response from clients.  In the
> early days the brief family therapy "gurus" were always on the look for
> the next miracle question or big impact therapeutic intervention.  They
> came up with a couple more -- but the miracle question was definitely
> the most elegant and effective.  
> 
> The postmodern/brief family therapists in many regards transformed the
> field of psychotherapy.  There is still a ton to be taken from them in
> terms of theory and technique.  I think it was Jay Haley who about 20
> years ago stated that "resistance is dead".  He was challenging
> therapists to "reframe" what they saw as clients being resistant as,
> instead, clients trying to tell therapists how to better help them.
> Haley didn't think there was such a thing as a resistant client -- just
> impatient therapists!  I think that the OD field would benefit immensely
> from adopting a similar conception of clients.  Haley and his wife, Cloe
> Madanes, were some of the second generation family systems people who
> greatly influenced the solution focused/oriented/brief therapy
> originators.  Haley helped originate and popularize the "reframing"
> technique.  
> 
> A seminal influence on all of these folks is Milton Erickson.  I see
> Gregory Bateson and the MRI group as the "Freud" figure to family
> systems and Milton Erickson is equivalent to Karl Jung.  Milton was in
> large part responsible for such wonderful ideas such as "prescribing the
> resistance" and "paradoxical interventions".  He is also largely
> credited with the concepts and insights that launched neurolinguistic
> programming (NLP) which made a big splash in the OD field a dozen years
> or so ago.
> 
> I know that some of the therapists who are skilled in the postmodern
> approaches feel a certain degree of skepticism, or even disdain, for AI.
> What I gather from their comments is that they see is as too simple and
> formulaic to be credible.  I have gone from being a family systems
> trained, postmodern therapist to a postmodern OD consultant, and active
> user and believer in AI.  My opinion is that individual, marriage, and
> family therapy is a great deal more difficult than OD work.  The work is
> harder, the pay is way worse, and the positive outcomes much more
> incremental.  The reason I say this is that I think it is hard for these
> therapists see the incredible outcomes that AI begets.  AI often results
> in big, positive, systemic shifts with huge groups of people.  We are
> talking about global social change.  I think it must be hard to hear
> about how great AI is -- when they have been using similar techniques
> for 20 years.  And that it is hard to hear about how great AI when they
> are having to convince an insurance company to cover three sessions (at
> $50 an hour) that are used to keep a 14 year old trauma survivor from
> committing suicide.  
> 
> Steve Wolinski, MS, LP, LMFT
> Taos/Tilburg Doctoral Program
>               
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
> [mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Punya
> Upadhyaya, Ph.D.
> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 11:49 AM
> To: Fritz Walter Organisationsberatung; ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
> Subject: Re: [Ailist] history of ai or family tree required
> 
> Dear Fritz,
> 
> There are several roots for the formation of AI, but Solution Focused
> therapy is not one. It is a kindred idea, just like Asset Based
> Community
> Development is a kindred idea in the development world.
> 
> The formal intellectual source is generally 'Social Constructionist'
> theory,
> which begins with Vico a few hundred years ago, goes through some
> post-Marxist analysis, e.g. Berger and Luckman, and the immediate idea
> that
> prompts David and Suresh and their colleagues at Case is Ken Gergen's
> notion
> of 'generative theory'.
> 
> A related intellectual issue is the general problem of action research
> which
> was the frame for much of the early work published on AI. It is not a
> psychological venture, as much as it is a social change process. The
> development of the theory was in a 'grounded' mode (e.g. Glaser and
> Strauss)
> and is really built on the experience of a team at Case Western.
> 
> Last, when you read the papers, there is an obvious theological
> influence,
> notably Gabriel Marcel, and other tropes. Some of this is common to all
> EuroAmerican social science, but some of this is specifically notable
> for
> AI. Empirically, it has usually done very well in Church related
> organizations, which 'get' it quickly.
> 
> Hope this helps,
> 
> Punya
> 
> 
> Punya Upadhyaya, Ph.D.
> Cell: (505) 770-7718
> punya at laplaza.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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----------
From: Eva P Svensson <eva at epshumaninvest.se>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: AI and Solution focused management?
Date: Sat, May 28, 2005, 4:26 AM



    Hello dear list members! 

    Sometimes I have heard here in Sweden of Lösningsfokuserat arbetssätt - Solutions focused management I believe is the English term. And today Istumbled over a webpage and I have been searching around there for a bit. It says that the method was invented or described by Steve de Shazer och Insoo Kim Berg from Brief Family Therapy Centre, Milwaukee, USA. And as I understand its used for example in short time therapy but also in groups/companies to create better work environment, improve teamwork and results. 

     

    My question is if anyone of you know what the difference is between a Solution focused approach and Appreciative inquiry? Both talk about focus on whats working, that the answer is within us 

     

    All the best from a soon to be summer weather and the west coast of Sweden 

    Eva 

    Bästa hälsningar 

     

     

    Eva P Svensson 

    ................................................................... 

    EPS Human Invest AB 

    "Verksamhetsutveckling genom människor skapar 

    långsiktigt välmående företag och organisationer!" 

    Anåsbergsvägen 22 

    439 34  ONSALA 

    Tfn: 0300-615 05 

    Mobil:0706-89 85 50 

    eva at epshumaninvest.se 

    www.epshumaninvest.se 

     
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