The Strengths Revolution with Steve Morgan | Strengths | Resources | Taking Risks

We all know what motivation is... it is what gets us out of bed and out of the door. But what if you have a problem with alcohol, or with misuse of other drugs? What role does motivation play in our desire or ability to change our behaviour patterns? In this episode I explore the strengths-based credentials of the concept of motivational interviewing. Introduced by William Miller in the early 1980's, this has become a prominent therapeutic intervention in the field of substance misuse, but what is the concept based on, and how does it work in practice? I attempt to briefly explore some of the questions posed here, look at the strengths & motivational interviewing research, and establish a link to the cycle of change.

Take a picture of this... it's 1998 and Martin Seligman is just installed as president of the American Psychological Association. He challenges the massed ranks of psychology professionals to change their fundamental ethos, from a focus on pathology to a pursuit of what makes for an excellent life. Positive Psychology is born; but does it match up to its claims to be the birth of a strengths way of thinking for developing a healthy and fulfilling life? Probably not; but what psychologists can lay a more robust claim to is applying the life scientific to a strengths approach. In this episode I explore the underlying claims and concepts that have become known as positive psychology, and also identify how it is put into practice. I also outline the virtues and character strengths that make up the 'manual of the sanities'.

AI is more frequently known as Artificial intelligence, but in the context of organisational change I am focusing this episode on Appreciative Inquiry. But, apart from the simple assumption of showing some appreciation to another person, what is it? David Cooperrider and colleagues have claimed this to be a uniquely strengths-based approach to the leadership and management of organisational change; and also that strengths-based management may just be the management innovation of our time! However, the concept of change does not sit easily with everyone; for one thing, it can give the impression that there is never enough time to implement some seriously good ideas before the next management initiative is passed down. In this episode I outline the strengths credentials of Appreciative Inquiry, its 4-dimensional cycle, as well as the 5 principles and 6 essential conditions for it to occur. It may require skilled facilitation by a trained practitioner, but it also offers all of us a positive language to adopt and apply to our own thinking about the organisations we presently inhabit.

The strengths approach shares many values, principles and practices with other well known approaches, one of which is Appreciative Inquiry. During a conversation planning for a workshop presentation at a conference the question of establishing a 'provocative proposition' arose... a concept closely integrated into the practice of Appreciative Inquiry. In this episode I establish my statement as: 'Positive risk-taking will transform the relationship of individuals and organisations to risk forever!' I then test out this statement against the eight criteria for a good provocative proposition. See whether you agree, and more importantly, learn a little more about how positive risk-taking should be implemented to maximum effect.

Person centred planning is a concept well established in learning disability services, with a clear set of principles, broad questions, tools and methods for capturing plans. But, what does it really look like in practice? In this episode I narrate a detailed case example from a service I had been involved in developing. This case study of Sarah (not her real name) highlights not just the challenges of diagnosed multiple conditions, but also the barriers that have to be overcome in getting your close sources of support to change in order to achieve your desired wishes. Some of Sarah's presentation is undoubtedly challenging, but this episode explains how they have been accommodated and overcome with creative thinking, as well as illustrating the process happening in practice.

The strengths approach is all about being person-centred, but the concept of person-centred planning is much more closely associated with learning disability services. It is about ensuring the individual's needs, wants and personal choices are paramount; and that the role of workers is to listen and learn from the individual in order to shape service responses to meet the priorities expressed. In this episode I outline the historical development of person-centred planning, its 4 principles, 2 broad questions, 4 specific tools, the 'circle of care', and the outcomes represented occasionally by the 'Personal Book' or 'One-Page Profile'. I also review some of the examples of how it is best implemented, and what the critics have to say about whether it really works or not.

Whether it is the occasional personal reflection or the more structured process in service delivery, we all review our progress from time to time. The purpose is to check in on the progress of our plans and actions towards the achievement of our priorities and goals, and just occasionally to check how we are managing lifes crises. In UK mental health service the process ahs become known as the Care Programme Approach (CPA) since 1991. A simple set of indisputable principles were quickly transformed into practices that leave a lot to be desired. The power of a bureaucratic administrative stranglehold has never been more clearly illustrated than in the case of reviews by audited target setting. 'Person-centred' is a smoke and mirrors claim for something purposely designed to make services look good on a balance-sheet. In this episode I outline how the genuine intention of perosn-centred review can be regained through a visionary, strengths-based and creatiove approach to individaul reviews. It includes a sereis of questions we should all be constantly asking of ourselves in order to stay on the person-centred track. A Strengths Approach applies equally to people and the processes we come to wrap them up in.

Working with Strengths is a consistent process of identifying strengths through a strengths assessment, leading to the identification of personal priorities. These priorities become the separate strengths-based support plans, but the identified strengths also apply in managing crises and concerns. In this episode this whole process is illustrated through the details of the case study of Aluna, and African lady arriving in London at a young age, but the victim of horrendous abuses. The case study illustrates how the initial information we receive sets up a very narrow and generally negative picture of a person. Time is the ultimate requirement in order to encourage someone to build trust and engage with services that can be of help and support. The process of engaging trust is most successfully achieved through a focus on a person's capabilities, not by just keeping them focused on the problems and difficulties they experience. Aluna was very clear what she wanted, and how she could work with certain services to achieve her aims, but both she and the services held concerns that a strengths approach can also be adapted to resolve.

When delivering ideas about a strengths approach I am frequently confronted by the need for practitioners to discuss their most extreme example of a severly depressed completely entrenched person who has no strengths. My immediate response is that everyone has strengths, just on some occasions it is a greater challenge identifying and developing them. The real failure of perception is to take the superficial picture as the whole picture. We need to dig beyond the surface in creative ways that respond to each individual and their personal circumstances. In this episode I outline 10 questions to keep in mind when the search for strengths proves most challenging. These questions have some similarlity with the approach adopted in Brief Solution Focused Therapy, with an emphasis on exception-finding, scaling, coping and what's better types of questions.

You may be a supremely spontaneous individual, but we all still need degrees of planning if we are to be confident of setting in motion the powerful action to help us in achieving our dreams and aspirations. In planning for achievement it is common sense to think that our strengths will be focal in the process, but they apply equally to plans for managing our concerns and crises. 'Working with Strengths' is a process that follows the path of strengths assessment to stated priorities to strengths-based support plans. In this episode I offer brief checklists of prompts to guide the construction of strengths-based plans for achieving our priorities and for managing our concerns. It is the application, not just the identification of our strengths, that enables action and positive change. These checklists should apply equally to personal reflection or to our work in supporting others.