Tag Archives: opportunity

London Calling! And an Open Call to experience SFBT conversations

Dear reader,

Tomorrow I’m partly moving back to London (UK) for one year. It’s actually huge news, as I’ll be attending a Diploma in Solution Focused Practice, hence becoming a Solution Focused Brief Therapist. I’m burning enthusiasm and energy! But I need your help.

You see, what practitioners say is not the same to what practitioners do. Talking about therapy or coaching is nowhere near to doing either of it. One cannot learn how to facilitate useful conversations from books alone. It takes a lot of practice.

So I’m moving to London for this particular reason. I reached a certain point in my life where I am proud of my work as a trainer and a coach and I trust my clients to have all the resorces necessary to make a change they want to see. So when the student is ready, the teacher will appear, they say. Ribalon’s second season is slowly closing, as is 2016. This year we launched the first Slovenian professional training in Solution Focused Practice and we splendidly coordinated and carried out our first European international project Coaching for Change. Both promising projects give me confidence that there’s a bright future for Ribalon and for Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) in Slovenia. Like at the very beginning, I still very much believe SFBT is radically different to any other approach to coaching and therapy. And I want people to experience it, make use of it and learn how to benefit from it. So it’s only natural to return back to practice and sharpen my skills so I carry out my mission the best I can, to do SFBT justice.

I will be surrounded by many people in London, who are eager to see me succeed, perform well and who will assist me in my professional development. Meaning, they will closely monitor my work with clients. And I cannot do any work without my clients. My clients are my best teachers and the only true stakeholders to assess whether our work has been useful. I can’t create opportunities alone. Nor can I make a positive difference to anybody, without clients.

This is a call and an invitation for you, who are following this blog and for those you know, who are looking for opportunity to make a difference in their own, or their significant others lives. I’m inviting you to join this journey as a client and to experience the magic of SFBT yourself and contribute to its spread.

Simply click on the link below (a document with more detailed information) and apply. I would be honoured, if you would forward this Call to anybody whom you wish the best and would like to see them discover or find what they are looking for.

OPEN CALL for participants to be engaged in SFBT conversations

Many thanks and – see you soon!

Biba

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It’s not a goodbye. It’s a new hello!

I deserve this!

Dear reader,

it was about a year ago, on an intervision meeting with a coach colleague. I was just starting to think about going independent and opening my own company. As such, I was full of doubts, second thoughts, all sorts of fears, as are probably most people who are about to leave their comfort zone.

As we talked things through, he provoked me with all sorts of (very useful) questions. From the mission, vision, long and short term goals, possible paths, etc, etc. It’s in fact been really useful and without this coaching intervision I would probably not get anywhere near as close as I did in such a timely manner.

At the end of our conversation, as we both got exhausted (in a good way), he said: “Tell me why would you do such a thing.” I answered. He went: “No. Think.” I answered again, different answer. “No. Think again. Why would you want any of this?” and it took me a long time to give another answer. His reply again was: “No. Do you know why? It’s BECAUSE YOU DESERVE THIS!“

So that gave the title for the Facebook page that followed short after.

I’m home alone today. As my schedule fills up so unpredictable and is super flexible, I get to choose how much I work, when and what. So I decided to stay at home and work on my thesis. My husband has work to do the whole day and will only come back late in the evening. As morning turned into the afternoon and it was about lunch time, I thought I’ll just grab a sandwich and continue working. But then I figured: hey, why would I cook only when there are two (or more) of us? Why not treating myself equally worth? So I cooked a lovely meal just for myself, simply because I deserve this. And it was a whole ritual (except that obviously I cooked too much, tough love, I’d say).

Now I’m getting to the point of this post. Next year, in 2016 something wonderful is going to happen in our beautiful Slovenia. For the very first time, we’ll organize a Professional Solution Focused Training for those, who would like to learn how to use and practice Solution Focused Approach in their line of work. It is intended for coaches and/or therapists, along with all others, who work with people and would like to learn a different way of solving problems and managing conflicts.

The training will offer several different stages, from the very basics, introductory level, to more advanced levels, so you could join in whenever you feel you would benefit most. It will take place approximately from February until April or May 2016, each month a couple of days. It is an exclusive opportunity, as in the end, we’ll host a guest from Europe’s largest institution who provides Solution Focused Training and Slovenia has never had such an opportunity before.

So make sure, you are up to date with upcoming news with details dates, etc. Why? Because YOU DESERVE THIS! You deserve to learn skills and techniques that will bring you and your clients closer and quicker to your desired future. Solution Focused Approach has changed my life in ways I cannot describe. Now your time has come to make a difference in your life. Because you are worth it.

lunch!

A Road Less Traveled

Dear reader,

Hope you are doing well. I got back from summer holidays and even though not much has been going on in terms of sessions or similar, there’s news I’d like to share with you.

Today I was organizing some photo albums and realized, I have a very strange habit. I like to take photos of the ground.

I didn’t know it was that obvious, but there we go – each album has at least one photo of the floor and it was not taken by accident. I know it sounds strange, but I really like doing that as some people like to take selfies. I like the idea of a captured moment, where it is my turn to walk this road that so many have walked before. In so doing I wonder who they were, what they were thinking about, were they in a hurry or just taking the after lunch walk, did they carry a bag or pushed a baby carriage, was their step light, fast, or in pain, worried. And I feel really small, thinking this thoughts and at the same time so calm and grateful, because I’m aware of the moment and I know it’s my turn now.

As I was traveling and had the opportunity to explore foreign landscapes and cities, I learned a lot. Not just in the courses/conferences, but also in traveling itself. I liked every single place I’ve visited. At the same time I could complain about every place, but I chose to like it. One could write pages or even a whole novel about every place and its people, so much they had to share. If only I were to listen.

I remember a journey from Sheffield to London in March by train. The plan was to take the latest train in Sheffield and then stay at St. Pancras for the night and get a coach to the airport back home. That day was super intense, as I had a meeting with one agency in the morning and have participated as an observer in psychological assessments at the university. So the idea was that I take the latest train and not spend another night in a hostel. After all scheduled meeting were over, I met with a friend for a cup of coffee and cake and then went shopping. It started to rain and my bag’s zipper broke. Of course. It was cold and I was hungry. I prayed they would let the train open so I could find a good seat and get some sleep, as at the station this would be less possible. Also, meanwhile I found out that the London night traffic isn’t 24/7, so the coaches are not running until 3 o’clock. S***.

In the train as I found a cosy seat, not before long, a young man sat next to me. We began to chat. I was really tired and already prepared to sleep, but he seemed to be willing to talk. He was a nice guy, so my dilemma was what to do: the best and most reasonable thing to do would be just to ignore him and get some precious sleep, but on the other hand, it was a once in a lifetime situation and I might miss an opportunity to meet someone interesting. I went with the second option. And do not regret it, especially not today, where I have one more fb friend and a precious memory and am dry and eat a banana.

We arrived to St. Pancras. It was 11PM and it was cold. I thought no one would be at the station, luckily they have a couple of battered pianos, so I could make a fool of myself and amuse the mice. The station was crowded, because a Eurostar train to France came back. There seemed to be some accident in the tunnel. So there were about 500 people caught in the station. If someone had the right to complain, it was them! A Costa Coffee was opened and it was one of the few places not windy. So we all squeezed inside (and my broken bag, remember?). People were fed up, the smell was just awful and the coffee man was in a bad mood. Not helping. So we sat there. Then I smiled to a guy next to me (he was a huge man, very tall and looked strong). I asked him if I could squeeze in a bit and move closer, because he looked so strong and both of us together could keep the warmth longer. He was also one of the loudest complainers and was really surprised by this proposal, but eventually he agreed. Felt a bit awkward, but then we were okay. After a while a few others followed our example and the iced atmosphere was broken. It was just one single smile that made such a huge difference among the whole group. Or maybe I was just imagining it.

Pictures of the floor. I thought my journeys have come to an end with this summer, and again, I was wrong. The distance travelled to my next learning opportunity will be more than 10,000 km. I got the news last week over coffee somewhere in Dalmatia. It was one of those rare moments with Wi-Fi available and I almost fell of my chair as I read an email on my phone, saying I’ve been chosen as the recipient of an Award to support my attendance at American Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association (SFBTA) annual conference in the USA. The award is given to students, who show promise in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and is aimed to provide some financial support for travel expenses. I couldn’t believe my eyes.  

Again, be careful what you wish for. It may come true. I did not see this coming. And yet it’s happened. This years award has been given to me.

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“If we know exactly where we’re going, exactly how to get there, and exactly what we’ll see along the way, we won’t learn anything. ” ― M. Scott Peck, A Road Less Traveled