Recreating Brief Therapy Preferences and Possibilities

The result is personal consultation, with a focus on conversation and inquiries that gently guide the pursuit of desire. This approach embraces a diversity of longings, goals, and ways of being in the world. The key question, underlying both the authors' research and their consultative conversations, is 'How can we create a space for dialogue and wonder, where purpose, preferences, and possibilities can emerge?' This question leads to many others, which form the basis for the chapters of the book. Each inquiry is illustrated by case excerpts that show where this approach diverges from strategic and solution-focused questioning. The situations are difficult--crack addiction, marital separation, suicidal despair, etc.--and yet the consultant's stance of being 'curious with' the client leads to signs of hope and pathways toward a better future. In this pragmatic approach, previously unspoken desires take precedence over goals set by others, and what is preferred becomes possible.

Jane Peller is professor of social work at Northeastern Illinois University.