Healing the Whole Person: A Solution-Focused Approach to Using Empowering Language, Emotions, and Actions in Therapy

by Robert B. McNeilly

Spurred on by popular demand as well as the modern managed care system, solution-focused psychotherapy has evolved rapidly in recent years. A refreshingly practical alternative to traditional psychotherapeutic approaches, brief, solution-focused therapy rapidly identifies a client's most pressing problem and marshals personal resources to bring swift relief. Yet, despite the vast and growing demand for short-term psychotherapy, there continues to be a dearth of expert guides for solution-focused treatment. Written by a therapist with nearly a quarter century's experience in pioneering solution-focused techniques, this book fills the gap in the literature.

The approach described in Healing the Whole Person represents the culmination of years of pioneering work in brief, solution-focused psychotherapy. Proven highly effective in interventions with a wide range of behavioral and relationship problems, it combines established methodologies--including language techniques pioneered by the likes of Milton Erickson, Steve de Shazer, and Bill O'Hanlon--with original emotional and body interventions.

Therapist Robert McNeilly offers down-to-earth discussion of basic principles of solution-focused techniques, followed by step-by-step guidance to interventions with clients of all ages, as well as families and couples. With the help of fascinating and instructive case studies and vignettes, he describes techniques for interventions with anxiety, depression, insomnia, eating disorders, stress, relationship problems, and other common behavioral problems.

Emphasizing techniques that promote the interconnectedness of language, the emotions, and the body, McNeilly describes how to rapidly establish a solid rapport with clients; pose change-provoking questions; transform negative emotions into positive ones; deal with resistant or hostile clients; and use exercise, breathing, posture, and meditation to help enlist the body's resources to encourage positive change.

A groundbreaking guide to state-of-the-art thinking and practices in brief, short-term psychotherapy, Healing the Whole Person is an indispensable resource for all mental health professionals.

A comprehensive introduction to conducting solution-oriented therapy, written by a pioneer in the field.