Kidge Burns is a Speech and Language Therapist who worked in an NHS hospital setting for 23 years. Since 1997, she has used SFBT to help clients with acute and chronic physical ill health, writing chapters and articles on her work and publishing Focus on Solutions: A Health Professional’s Guide (2nd ed., 2016). She completed the BRIEF Diploma in 2006 and was part of the working party involved in setting up the accreditation scheme for the UK Association for Solution Focused Practice (UKASFP). Kidge has trained health professionals in SFBT throughout the UK and provides therapy and supervision to individuals as a Solution Focused Practitioner. Sarah Northcott is a Senior Lecturer in speech and language therapy at City, University of London. After qualifying as a Speech and Language Therapist, she initially worked in community services, before completing a PhD. Her research interests lie in exploring ways to support the emotional and social wellbeing of people living with stroke and aphasia. In 2016, she received the Stroke Association Jack and Averil (Mansfield) Bradley Fellowship Award for Stroke Research, which enabled her to lead the Solution Focused brief therapy In post-stroke Aphasia (SOFIA) trial. Sarah has also completed a diploma in Solution Focused Brief Therapy at BRIEF, London.
Kidge Burns and Sarah Northcott's wonderful book exploring Solution Focused Brief Therapy and its application to the field of Speech and Language and to the work of Allied Heath Professionals is clear, well-structured, practical and rooted in practice with case examples and lists of questions that practitioners will find immediately useful and relevant. Kidge and Sarah's book will convince readers that this approach can be used, indeed has particular relevance, for people facing life-changing conditions where there can be no simple solutions. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to those working both within and beyond healthcare settings, in fact to anyone looking for an introduction to the Solution Focused approach. Evan George co-director BRIEF www.brief.org.uk and co-author of 'Solution Focused Brief Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques' and 'Brief Coaching: a Solution Focused Approach' (both with Chris Iveson and Harvey Ratner) What impressed me most about this book is the authors depth of knowledge and experience. On one hand it is a thorough introduction to solution focused brief therapy. On the other hand it is a book useful to any professional wanting to find ways of collaborating in the most challenging situations imaginable, be it with people with aphasia or people with any difficulties in communication. For practitioners working with people living with aphasia and brain damage it is a must read. Harry Korman, MD, Child Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist SIKT Malmo, Sweden