I very much enjoyed reading this book and appreciated how the authors provided descriptions of successes and failures in counselling, using both to "flesh out" what made some conversations helpful and others, not so helpful. They have taken therapists off their pedestals and placed them within the conversation. This is a book which will become a permanent handbook in my library - ready by my side, as I practice child welfare.

What made this book even more useful to me was its integration of the narrative/strategic approach for all aspects of therapy: from beginning to end session, from working with children to the elderly through the different life transitions, from a non-voluntary to voluntary basis - all in one book.

The authors guide us through several case example's, starting at the beginning when we have first contact with our clients. "A therapeutic conversation begins with the first phone call. This is when we arrange the first appointment and decide whom to see. It's also our first contact with the person defining the problem, and it presents an opportunity to connect with that person's preferences and positive intentions."

The authors devote a whole chapter to the process of assessment. They outline seven steps to use in the initial assessment. Throughout the beginning conversations, the therapist attempts to elicit information about how the problem evolved and what it looks like at its worst. Conversations are used to discuss how the person views the actual problem (identified as the disjunctive view) and how the person would prefer to be seen in relation to the problem (identified as the preferred view). To help keep track of all the information elicited about the person, the authors utilize a matrix to record their data throughout the therapy process.

Several chapters are devoted to treatment (the middle and end part of therapy). Case examples utilizing a variety of ages and life transitional issues depict how helpful conversations can make people stronger. Working in child welfare, I was very interested in the application of narrative therapy to childhood / teen and parenting issues. The authors state that narrative and strategic solutions can be used just as profitably in practice with children as with adults. The same major steps outlined in the assessment and treatment chapters are used but "Depending on the child's age or level of comfort in talking with the therapist, this information can be gathered in a variety of ways, including interview, play, drawings and, yes, projective story-telling techniques not often considered part of the family therapist's armamentarium."

In reviewing the case examples for the children, I was disappointed that an interview was not chosen depicting the use of alternative techniques rather than talking, to display a narrative/helpful conversation. I can see, however, the integration of these techniques fitting well within "helpful conversations".

The authors also discuss how important helpful conversations are with collateral's. A good case example is used, depicting how a lot of emotional pain can be eliminated and court costs minimized through the art of a helpful conversation, a conversation that builds on the clients preferred way of being and their available strengths. These similar ideas could easily be applied in the field of child welfare. Certainly, the techniques presented here issue invitations that would be difficult to refuse in contexts that have been traditionally described as "difficult to engage."

The authors end their book with a great statement: