A friendly explanation of SF practice sfwork University of Hertfordshire Dr Mark McKergow How does SF work Why this is a tricky question Stories we tell each other We have no theory ID: 638713
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“Stretching the world”A friendly explanation of SF practice sfwork/University of Hertfordshire
Dr Mark McKergowSlide2
How does SF work?Slide3
Why this is a tricky questionStories we tell each other“We have no theory”Beginner mindNot knowing position There is a difference between A theory of what the client needs to do in their lives, and An account of how come what are doing might be effectiveSlide4
‘SFBT 2.0’Discuss ‘best hopes’ of the client for the work together – a themeElicit a description of a ‘preferred future’ – with these best hopes realisedTomorrow (usually)Detailed and observable (referent) From client’s perception and relevant others’ positions – spouse, colleagues etcSuppose… all about how it could be, not how to get there
Elicit ‘instances’ – in the past and/or present – of the preferred future happening alreadyOften using a scale from 1-10Details, details, details…
In follow-up session(s), ask about ‘what’s better?’ since last time, summariseThat’s it
Shennan
& Iveson, 2011Slide5
From ‘action language’ to ‘description language’Slide6
Question – how does ‘merely describing’ something change our relationship to it? Slide7
World – in the head or out here?
Thanks to Prof Dan Hutto for this imageSlide8
What is ‘the world’ of the client?‘Umwelt’ (von Uexküll, early 20
th century) “the world as it is experienced by a particular organism”
"the worlds they perceive, their Umwelten, are all different”For example, for a tick...Odour of butyric acid (from mammal follicles)
Temperature (37 degrees, body of mammals)
Hairyness
(of mammals) Slide9
The world of the client is…The client…And every opportunity for interaction they have(“Affordances” – Gibson 1979) Slide10
Imagine walking through a forest… With a botanistAnd a survival expertAnd an artist
Do they experience the same forest differently, or is the forest different to each? Slide11
“If good or bad willing changes the world, it can only change the limits of the world, not the facts; not the things that can be expressed in language…. The world of the happy man is a different one from the world of the unhappy man” Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus 6.43Slide12
A world: a ‘field of affordances’Affordance – interaction between individual AND environmentLandscape of affordances“all possibilities for action open to a specific form of life” and depends on the abilities available to this form of life
Eg (von Uexküll, 1920) a tree gives different possibilities to different forms of life
For a rabbit – making a burrow among the rootsFor a woodworm – foodFor a human – shelter from sun or rain, cutting down for fuel etc Field of affordancesRelevant possibilities for action that an individual is responsive to in a concrete situationAn individual ‘world’ An ‘excerpt’ from the landscape of affordances
De Haan S, Rietveld E, Stokhof M and Denys D(2013) The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation – induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. Slide13
Dimensions of the field of affordances (“world”)WidthBroadness of scopeChoices and optionsDepthTemporal – now and in the futureAnticipatory affordance-responsivenessHeightRelevance / importance of affordances
Relates to motivation and ‘affective allure’
De Haan
S, Rietveld E, Stokhof M and Denys D(2013) The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation – induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based
model.
These diagrams are illustrative, not to be taken too seriously!Slide14
‘Stretching the world’Client describing ‘better’… Client’s language In the future, past or presentIn everyday termsIn DETAILIn particular, in terms of ‘noticing’ and ‘signs’…
Is all stretching the client’s ‘field of affordances’ – ie their worldWhich the client then lives in and responds to after the session _on their own_ Slide15
‘Stretching’ rather than ‘changing’A stretch may show tendency to return somewhat towards original sizeChanges will continue after the session tooWe don’t know how effective the stretch may be for the client at the time – have to wait“What’s better” questions can be seen as asking about how the newly stretched world is fittingAnd… change is happening right there in front of us (the conversation is change, as well as being ‘about’ change) Slide16
Interested to know more? More papers from me on academia.edu – search for ‘Mark McKergow’Follow @markmckergow on twitterI’m working on a book (sort of…)
http://sfwork.com
Big thank you to the University of Hertfordshire for all their support over the past six yearsSlide17