I attended the UK Association of Solution Focused Practitioners Conference on 7th July 2023 which was held at the Kings Centre in Oxford. It was my first time attending such a conference, as I have been working for Change Brief Therapy for just a little over one year now and thought it would be beneficial for me to see a more in-depth view of Solution Focused therapy and the greater benefits.

The day was very well organised, with so many workshops that attendees were able to access and choose from, which was a pleasant surprise. There were various topics that were thought provoking, which challenged many participants. What was great was that there were opportunities to ask questions at the end of each presentation and gain further understanding about how Solution Focused therapy can best be used in areas not yet considered widely.

There were many guest speakers during seminar sessions and one of the main ones was Solution Focused Practitioner Elliot Connie who came all the way from the U.S. He gave a great update on how Solution Focused therapy is being embraced in the U.S. Elliot is currently advocating for the Solution Focused approach to be embraced by mainstream in order to reach a much wider audience and maximise exposure, which sounded quite exciting. I took the opportunity to have a selfie with Elliot as he is a lovely, down to earth, personable, and approachable man.

If one didn’t have much of an idea about Solution Focused therapy before the conference, they certainly would have left with a wealth of knowledge. It further highlighted that Solution Focused can be used in any setting, not just with counsellors, but with parents, teachers, mentors, professionals that work with adults and children in a mental health capacity, or when dealing with the wellbeing of individuals.

What also became apparent quite quickly is that there is a plethora of opportunities that the Solution Focused approach fits perfectly with and are yet to be explored. The approach is so effective and so simple to adopt, that as a mother of an autistic child and also a child that suffers from mental health issues, I could even use this approach in an effective way to help both of my children realise their full potential. Solution Focused therapy would help my children to focus on their strengths when faced with a difficult situation, which is extremely powerful to someone who feels as though there is no way out for them.

I left the conference wanting to make a difference in bringing the Solution Focused approach to the wider community that I interact with on a regular basis such as schools, fostering agencies, social workers, and many more people.