The Solution Oriented Approach
Robert's mentor in learning the solution oriented approach was Dr. Rob McNeilly ( left). Dr. McNeilly is a wonderful teacher, well respected within the Ericksonian community and one of the few Australians to train directly with Milton Erickson.
Robert also greatly benefited from his association with his longtime teachers, Ken and Elizabeth Mellor, with whom he studied in the 1980's until the mid 90's. Ken and Elizabeth embodied a respectful, practical approach to change with a very similar "feel" to solution oriented intervention. Additionally they brought an integrative spiritual/meditative focus to the work of the therapist.
Since completing his course with Rob, Robert also enjoyed his trainings with Bill O'Hanlon, whose workshops provide a delightful, fun, yet practical approach to leaning with a generous dose of anecdotes and teaching stories about Milton Erickson.
Bill indicated that it was Milton's teaching tale about the African Violet Queen which sparked his interest in solution oriented work and brief intervention
A solution oriented approach is change focused, with an emphasis on each person's individual needs and capacities. Problems are resources to be utilized in the development of appropriate solutions.
The emphasis in Robert's approach is to foster the client's ability on both conscious and unconscious levels to develop their own unique solutions. Part of this is to reflect upon learnings and capacities from the past which may be relevant to current difficulties. This does not preclude the introduction of other tools or approaches where this is appropriate to the solution being sought.
