SFP 25 – Episode 25: Seeing Opportunities – Pull the Golden Ribbon: Interview with Brigitte Lavoie, M.P.s, Solution Focused Therapist, Trainer and Supervisor
Simply Focus Podcast – Episode #25
Hosted by: Elfie Czerny & Dominik Godat | Intro: Bibiana Czerny | Music: www.bensound.com
SFP 25 - Episode 25: Seeing Opportunities - Pull the Golden Ribbon: Interview with Brigitte Lavoie
„But then I woke up in the middle of the night, and I realized ‘who am I to think I am opening the eyes of people’. And I realized my eyes were shut, my ears were shut. I was supposed to be implementing Solution Focused practices and I was not implementing it in a Solution Focused way. I was trying to convince them.”
“For me, and that’s what fascinates me now (…) it’s that Solution Focused stance. So, before you meet with someone, you take for granted that these people want to collaborate. If they are saying „yes, but“ you have to listen carefully to what they are saying afterwards. So, I think the preparation for that meeting was as important as the questions we asked.“
„We said: We know that you are one of the most negative voices for the project and we realized that we need to listen to you. Would you accept to take some time with us? So we can really understand what you’re looking for, what is your vision, so we could develop a shared vision.“
„Actually, I was always impressed by the fact that people had a lot of hardship and they kept going. So, it’s not the hardship that makes people suicidal. It’s the lack of hope in the future. So that’s why we need techniques to help them identify a future that is worth living for.“
Show Notes
In today’s episode, we talk with Brigitte Lavoie, M.P.s, Solution Focused therapist, trainer and supervisor, about
- what fascinates her with Solution Focus
- how she got in touch with SF as the director of Suicide Action Montreal in 1997 and how SF made sense in the suicide prevention field especially also for traditional men
- how one moment in the implementation process of the suicide prevention program that Brigitte developed for the Province of Quebec changed her perception in the way Brigitte does trainings ever since
- how they met with the people that were most against the project, really saw them as experts, and listened to them with an SF stance to develop a shared vision
- the differences this 3-day training on suicide prevention makes and the hope it gives
- the metaphors Brigitte uses to talk about SF and how she shows the difference between SF and problem talk
- the Solution Focused stance
- the Pygmalion effect and how it applies to Solution Focus
- the SFBTA 2019 conference in Montreal and Brigitte’s passion to spread SF among the French speaking community
- speaking the client’s language and translating SF practice into our clients’ words
- being curious and learning more from different voices
- The challenge of the week: Pick someone that is difficult for you to deal with and take 5-10 minutes to imagine that this person is doing his/her best, that the person has something that you can admire, imagine it’s your favorite client, your favorite person, what is it that touches your heart with that person, and enter the room with that person and see what differences it makes.
- Elfie’s Birthday project about “SF and suicide prevention”
- one of Brigitte’s highlights of this podcast
- and check out the funny end 😉
Resources
- Find out more about Brigitte Lavoie and her work on her website.
- Go and check out the free resources in French language here. On her website you can also subscribe for her French Newsletter/Infolettre.
- The SFBTA 2019 conference will take place from November 6-9, 2019, in Montréal, Canada. On Brigitte Lavoie’s website you can subscribe to receive updates regarding the SFBTA 2019 conference.
- The SFBTA 2018 conference will take place from November 7-10, 2018, in Boulder, Colorado.
- For all our German speaking listeners: Our Solution Focused Leadership Conference goes online! Check out this unique Solution Focused Leadership experience in German language and become part of it! Hier geht’s zu den näheren Infos und zur Anmeldung zum Online Festival – Impulskonferenz für Lösungsfokussierte Führung: www.impulskonferenz.com
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Welcome to our weekly podcast with the little extra Solution Focus for your daily life! The SIMPLY FOCUS Podcast is a weekly show where we share focuses that have enhanced our lives. Our podcast is a resource for people who want to train an effective focus in their life and embrace a life in joy and ease. What you focus on in your daily life matters. Choose focuses that uplift, empower, and amplify useful change. Let yourself inspire for your business and private life.
Seeing opportunities and pulling black vs. colorful ribbons!
Join the conversation
What were your highlights of this podcast? What did you enjoy most? Let us know and be in contact with Brigitte! Ask her questions, and let her know what inspired you. Friendpower is stronger than willpower. So, let’s inspire each other! Share your ideas and thoughts on what inspired you and what differences this makes for you in your everyday life. Share as much detail as possible. Your story might be the one making a vital difference for someone else. Your thoughts and ideas matter and might encourage others to keep on going their SF journey. Share this podcast episode with your friends, clients or colleagues who you think might be inspired by this conversation. It could give them some practical ideas on how to apply Solution Focus in their daily life.
Thank you!
Thank you for listening to our podcast. You are awesome! That you listen to our podcast makes a huge difference for us. Please let us know and get in touch with us: Comment below or send us a message and tell us what difference our podcast series makes for you. And please share our podcast with others that might benefit from it and give us an honest rating at iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each and every single one. You really support our show with that as this will make it more likely that other people will find the SIMPLY FOCUS podcast and benefit.
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Listen to more Simply Focus Podcast episodes:
SFP 99 – Introducing Solution Focus in Schools: The kind of teachers we want to be with Sharon Casey
SFP 55 – Practice-Based Evidence: Looking at what is effective in what we do with Prof. Frank Thomas
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I remember a client who is a survivor of human trafficking and she was calling regularly to our crisis line and for the longest time when I came on the phone she would say “I can’t talk to a man”. She did this quite regularly and so it one point I was going to ask her the next time that she called if she could just talk to me for 2 minutes. The next time she did call I was ready to ask her to talk to me for 2 minutes. I never got the opportunity to ask that and for the next 2 hours she told me all aspects of her situation when she was trafficked. All the time that she was hanging up on me the idea of her being a “resistant” client flashed through my mind. But then thought that she was struggling with the idea of being able to trust me came to mind.
When I talked to my supervisor about this particular client one thing came to mind “she struggles so mightily”. As long as she’s struggling she still has hope and she hasn’t given up.
She struggles so mightily…That is so good. Almost a song title.
Thank you for sharing that story that is a reminder that people are doing their best.
Brigitte