A Guide to Possibility Land: Fifty-One Methods for Doing Brief, Respectful Thearpy

by Bill O'Hanlon and Sandy Beadle

Book Overview

When was the last time you read a book to improve your professional skills and had fun at the same time? For people interested in the latest developments in brief, solution-oriented therapies, and for any who want to improve their therapeutic skills without unnecessary toil, A Guide to Possibility Land is a terrific introduction to the territory. Possibility therapy, originated by Bill O'Hanlon, is about acknowledging and validating clients' felt...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393702979
• ISBN13: 9780393702972
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Rock Solid

Great little book. Get it and reap the wisdom O'Hanlon has aquired fro years a helping others!

Great resource to bring a fresh perspective to your work!

I'm a psychologist practicing in a college counseling center, and I love this book! This slim, easy-to-read volume contains a plethora of strategies which encourage you to view client problems from a new, solutions-oriented perspective. Each strategy is presented in a simple, one-page description that includes both a rationale for the technique as well as specific examples of how to use the technique with clients. The strategies are divided into five main categories: Carl Rogers with a Twist, Change the Viewing, Map Problem and Goals, Connect with Internal and External Resources, and Change the Doing. The book is laced with humor--e.g., goofy drawings and therapist lightbulb jokes at the end--and the techniques themselves frequently illustrate how to draw humor into the therapeutic process. At times, O'Hanlon seems to take this a bit too far, with the risk being that his methods will appear invalidating to the client, but I believe that his strategies can be adapted so that this is not the case. Furthermore, the tools offered in this book are compatible with all theoretical orientations and presenting problems. This is an excellent book for helping all therapists stay fresh and engaged in their work, and it is the one therapy handbook that I always turn to when I'm feeling stuck with a client.

A vade mecum for creating possibilities

I gave 4 stars in an earlier review which was lost in the transfer. After re-reading the book, I like it even more. This is not a book that some people will take to right away. It is more like notes or hand-out on 51 therapeutic techniques. The line drawings of animals by Sandy Beadle have nothing to do with the content. The authors admit that this is a "weird collaboration". When you look through the book again and again, the animals take on personality and emotions. It is amazing that a few simple lines can be so expressive. You can just enjoy the art-work. The sketchy descriptions of each method, with "defintion, rational, examples", are like the line drawings, simple in outline, but very rich in meaning. They follow the general order of O'Hanlon's Possibility Therapy: 1. Acknowledgement and Possibility. 2. Change the Viewing. 3. Problems and Goals. 4. Resources. 5. Change the Doing. You get the flavour of O'Hanlon's wisdom, his use of stories and simple language and his sense of humour. You can easily understand why he has been so popular and successful and even appeared on Oprah's Show. These methods can possibly be developed into game cards not only for therapists, but for anyone interested in growth. With any skills, we need to practise. This book helps us to practise in smaller steps and acquire new outlooks and behavior for a more creative living.

As a psychologist I find this an intriging and useful book

This book presents a powerful, positive approach to working with clients. O'Hanlon is truly a visionary who has helped create an approach to working with clients that is positive, affirming, and solution focused. He has helped create an approach that focuses on solutions rather than pathology. This book (and all of his others) should be required reading for new and experienced therapists. Buy a copy for a friend.

Every therapist will benefit from mastering these skills

Every psychotherapist will benefit from mastering the powerfully effective change-evoking strategies in this easy to follow and fun to read guide book. This book is required reading for any clinician who is committed to creating a climate in which clients can make the changes they desire in their lives rapidly and effectively.