You can move quickly from "stuck" to "smooth sailing" in all aspects of your life using Bill O'Hanlon's ten easy Solution Keys, Humorous, direct, and effective, they help you change how you view and "do" your problems-from difficult relationships to enhancing sexuality and resolving conflicts of all kinds. The next time you have a problem, try one of these solution Keys:

Break Problem Patter: Change any one of what you usually do in the problem situation-i.e. do one thing different! Example: If you usually get angry and defensive, sit quietly and listen.

Find and Use Solution Pattern: Import solutions from other situations where you felt competent. Examples: what do you know on the golf course that you forget when you get behind the wheel of your car? What do you say to resolve a problem with an angry customer that you don't say to your angry partner?

Shift Your Attention: Focus what you would like to have happen rather than on what is happening.

Grounded in therapeutic practice, this bold and funny book will put you back in control of your emotions and your life.

Average Customer Review: ( 22 customer reviews )
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One of the things I love most about it is that it is solution-oriented, no preoccupation with "why" but focusing on "how," how to get what you want for yourself, and in your relationships.

I'm giving copies to several family members and buying extras to have on hand. It's that good.

46 of 48 found the following review helpful:

Down to earth help for everybodyOct 16, 1999

This book really helps you to see that by making small changes in your life you can start on the road to making big changes. Bill O'Hanlon has managed to bring his professional expertise down to a level that anyone can understand and benefit from. I am excited to try his one thing different in order to make my life and the life of those close to me better.

39 of 42 found the following review helpful:

DIY Guide to Solution-Focused TherapyMar 30, 2004
By Tony Plant
"Do One Thing Different" is a much-needed, straightforward do-it-yourself (DIY) guide to solution-focused techniques. Clients love or loathe this book.

Some clients are unwilling to look into a book that is plainly written and easy to read. They loathe dryly written more academic texts, however, complex text that relies on diagnostic labels and bleak prognoses seems more appropriate to the perceived gravity of their problems and issues.

Other clients love this book because it has scant respect for diagnostic labels and is optimistic about the possibility for improvement for most people and their circumstances. They love it because the simplicity overlays subtleties and practicalities of DIY techniques that can be put into use, right now and safely tested in their everyday lives.

If you want an evidence-based justification of solution-focused therapy, then this is not your book. If you want to explore the biography of your emotions and distressing behaviours, or to gain an insight into the human condition, then there are many, very fine books that explore those topics. O'Hanlon plainly states that he has no interest in examining these or similar areas.

"I began to realize how messed up I really was. I was `clinically depressed,' and most probably I had a biochemically based brain disorder. I probably needed medications. Since I had been sexually abused when I was a child, the books indicated that a minimum of several years' worth of therapy was in order. I would have to spend lots of time, money, and energy getting in touch with the repressed, dissociated memories and feelings associated with the abuse. But I wasn't certain that I wanted to take medications or go through years of painful therapy. I was certain I couldn't afford either. Now wonder I became even more depressed!"

O'Hanlon tells us the story of his personal epiphany when he discovered how to help clients to develop self-management strategies that are grounded in their personal experiences and strengths.

"Problem-oriented and explanation-based theories focus on what is wrong with a person or what went wrong in the past. Solution-oriented therapy highlights what is right with the person, what has worked or been helpful in the past, and what the person can do right now to change things...

Solution-oriented therapy...encourages people to move out of analyzing the nature of the problem and how it arose and instead to begin to find solutions and take action to solve it."

For readers who are interested in the Solutions-Focused approach to dealing with their issues, then "Do One Thing Different" is a user-friendly, DIY guide to developing your own Solution Keys. The 10 Solution Keys are described with useful examples and suggestions for implementing them: they are

Sabotage Your Problem Behaviours (find what leads up to the problem behaviour and disrupt it)

Recognize What Works Well for You (what do you already know and do what works well for you)

Keep Your Past and Feelings in Perspective (they don't have to determine your present or your future)

Shift Your Attention (you choose where to focus your attention: what is worth your energy and time?)

Tell Your Success Story Backwards (in the future you are telling the story of your success and how you achieved it: so, what simple things do you need to do RIGHT NOW?)

Change Your Problem Biography into Solutions-Focused Auto-biography (acknowledge what is in your circle of influence, change that, and change yourself)

Explore the Wider Meanings of Your Life (spirituality and Spirituality)

If You Need to Complain, Be Clear About It (what is the outcome that you want, what needs to be different to achieve that?)

Rituals Exist for a reason (use them to mark the passing of old habits or to welcome new and happier ways of living)

Celebrate What Is Good in Your Life (routine can promote intimacy and connectedness as much as set-piece social occasions)

O'Hanlon writes with warmth and clarity: there are times when the tone is too self-consciously humorous and irreverent, and the text can occasionally border on the trite, however, it is a clear and easy to follow book. I recommend this book to

anyone who has caught themselves thinking, "I am so tired of this. I've thought this to death and I'm still no further forward";

anyone who is attacted to Solutions-Focused therapy, and senses that they DO know what to do, they just need a few hints and tips to get them started.

18 of 18 found the following review helpful:

Just do it!Aug 16, 2002
By Susan Dunn "The EQ Coach"
These tips really are "uncommonly sensible solutions." I found this book marvelous, as a person and as a personal life coach. I work with clients all the time who are "stuck" and am always looking for ways and means to get them going again and back in touch with their personal power. This book gave me many wonderful ideas. It's well-written, with clear, step-by-step instructions. No jargon, and non-intrusive. Just good, practical stuff. Useful for yourself, useful for helping others. We all need to go toward our heart's and soul's desire. GO BILL!

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