ABSTRACT

First Published in 1999. When we attend a workshop or read a book, we usually encounter the end result of someone's research, theorizing, or contemplation. However, it is often true that the process of reaching that end-point is just as informative as the end-point itself. Evolving Possibilities is just such a look at the process. In a way, it offers a behind-the-scenes look at Bill O'Hanlon's approach to therapy.

This book is a collection of twenty essays and articles written or co-written by Bill O'Hanlon. They span a time period from 1986 to the present. The articles are grouped into four different approaches to psychotherapy: Ericksonian/Strategic Approaches, Solution-Oriented Therapy, Possibility Therapy, and Inclusive Therapy. Moving through these four groups of essays, the reader has the unique opportunity to witness the evolution and transformation of a therapist's thoughts regarding a variety of therapeutic issues. The book offers a refreshing, open look at one therapist's attempts to make sense of psychotherapy, including views that have sparked debate within the professional community. By offering a private look into Bill O'Hanlon's public persona, Evolving Possibilities provides the reader with a thought-provoking study in professional development that is of interest to anyone engaged in the pursuit of more effective psychotherapeutic techniques and approaches.

part Phase I|50 pages

Ericksonian/Strategic Approaches

chapter Chapter 1|4 pages

Milton Erickson

An Uncommon Therapist—Part I

chapter Chapter 2|4 pages

Milton Erickson

An Uncommon Therapist—Part II

chapter Chapter 4|4 pages

Custom Reframing

The Use of Analogies for a Change

chapter Chapter 7|6 pages

Contextual Pattern Intervention

Integrating Individual and Interactional Approaches to the Treatment of Bulimia and Bingeing

part Phase II|88 pages

Solution-Oriented Therapy

chapter Chapter 9|16 pages

Solution-Oriented Therapy

A Megatrend in Psychotherapy

chapter Chapter 10|34 pages

Take Two People and Call them in the Morning

Brief Solution-Oriented Therapy with Depression

chapter Chapter 11|4 pages

Accountability in Psychotherapy

A Quality Assurance Method

chapter Chapter 12|14 pages

History Becomes Her Story

Collaborative Solution-Oriented Therapy of the Aftereffects of Sexual Abuse

chapter Chapter 14|6 pages

Debriefing Myself

When a Brief Therapist Does Long-Term Work

part Phase III|26 pages

Possibility Therapy

chapter Chapter 15|16 pages

Possibility Therapy

From Iatrogenic Injury to Iatrogenic Healing

chapter Chapter 16|2 pages

My Guess Syndrome

chapter Chapter 17|4 pages

DSM-V

A Modest Proposal

part Phase IV|56 pages

Inclusive Therapy

chapter |2 pages

Introduction to Phase IV

Future Directions

chapter Chapter 18|16 pages

Frozen in Time

Possibility Therapy With Adults Who Were Sexually Abused as Children

chapter Chapter 20|16 pages

What's the Story?

Narrative Therapy and the Third Wave of Psychotherapy