Solution Focused Coaching in Asia

Anton Stellamans

Reviewed by Anton Stellamans

Steve de Shazer and Gale Miller once remarked that “Solution Focus is a rumour.” By this they meant that there isn’t a single, fixed version of Solution Focus (SF), but rather different manifestations connected by family resemblances. To understand SF, we shouldn’t search for its essence—an effort that would only yield a dull, standardised definition. Instead, we should explore the many ways it takes shape in practice. This book therefore offers an excellent opportunity to do exactly that: to see SF through the work of its contributors.

Editors Debbie Hogan, Jane Tuomola, and Sukanya Wignaraja have gathered 32 case studies that show how SF is being applied across Asia—in countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. The fields covered are equally diverse: organisational coaching, executive and leadership coaching, team coaching, life coaching, youth and family coaching, education, health and wellness, faith-based coaching, career development, as well as more unusual applications such as visual and graphic coaching, sales conversations, and work with incarcerated fathers. Much like the original book in this genre, Solutions Focus Working, edited by Mark McKergow and Jenny Clarke, this book offers inspiring real-world examples of how SF is used in practice.

Solution Focused Coaching in Asia was published in 2024 by Routledge (London). It follows on from the editors’ earlier volume, Solution Focused Practice in Asia (2016). Comparing the two, Debbie Hogan notes that the chapters in this new collection demonstrate a greater maturity and depth of understanding of Solution Focus.

It is remarkable how well SF has been received across different cultures and contexts. SF seems to travel like a wise guest—treading lightly, adapting to local customs, and making itself at home without imposing itself.

For many, it is not surprising that SF resonates so strongly in Asia. We recall the eight J-SOL conferences organised by Aoki Yasuteru between 2008 and 2015, or the many inspiring Japanese colleagues who have been part of SOLWorld gatherings since 2008. At the most recent SOLWorld conference in Mechelen, for example, participants came from across Asia—Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and China.

To me, SF has always carried an Asian flavour. Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg frequently mentioned their Buddhist inspirations. Already in his first book, Patterns of Brief Family Therapy (1982), Steve wrote: “In part to understand Insoo’s heritage, my readings wandered into Asian thought. The influence of Buddhist and Taoist thought upon the epistemology and the model is central. Like Capra I found the similarities between Asian thought and the new ecosystemic epistemology striking.” (pp. ix–x) And on page 1 of their final book, More than Miracles (2007), Steve and Insoo again acknowledged that Solution Focused Brief Therapy has roots in Buddhist thought: “One can clearly see the roots of SFBT in (…) Buddhist thought.”

In her introductory chapter, Kirsten Dierolf bravely reflects on the parallels between Asian philosophy and SF. With nuance, she avoids superficial generalisations and stereotypes. Many contributors also reflect briefly on whether applying SF in an Asian context makes a difference. Interestingly, some argue it does, while others conclude it does not.

One compelling theme is the growing demand for coaching in Asian businesses due to globalisation. In contexts where direct criticism might clash with cultural norms such as saving face, humility, or respect for hierarchy, SF proves particularly effective. By focusing on what is wanted rather than what is wrong, SF provides a respectful and culturally sensitive coaching approach.

More generally, reflecting on SF in any context, we might say that by maintaining a “not-knowing” stance, we avoid pretending to be experts in our clients’ lives and instead support them in discovering what works in their unique situations. In her final reflections, Debbie Hogan reminds us of Insoo’s view: “What was more interesting and relevant for her was the individual culture which that person represented, and not necessarily their culture of origin or their country of origin; it was about the uniqueness of that individual.”

For the SF practitioner, then, cultural background may not be the decisive factor. Still, one might wonder—though the book does not address this directly—whether clients sometimes feel more understood by coaches they perceive as sharing their cultural background.

The book offers many beautiful and inspiring accounts of SF in action that will stimulate coaches everywhere. For me, two contributions stood out: Alex Tan and Jane Tuomola’s dialogue about his work coaching and mediating between two entrepreneurs in Malaysia. And the adaptation of SF coaching to podiatry clinical practice by Marabelle Heng, Helen Banwell, Keran Wei, and Kristin Graham, showing how medical experts can use SF to collaborate more effectively with their patients.

I highly recommend this book, and I hope it sparks as much curiosity and inspiration in you as it did in me.
ISBN: 9781032556352
Pages: 314 • 19 B/W Illustrations
Published: August 2, 2024 by Routledge

References

• De Shazer, S. (1982). Patterns of Brief Family Therapy: An Ecosystemic Approach. The Guilford Press, New York.
• De Shazer, S., et al. (2007). More than Miracles: The State of the Art of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. The Haworth Press, London.
• Hogan, D., Hogan, D., Tuomola, J., Yeo, A. (2016). Solution Focused Practice in Asia. Routledge, London.
• Hogan, D., Tuomola, J., & Wignaraja, S. (Eds.). Solution Focused Coaching in Asia. Routledge, London.
• McKergow, M., & Clarke, J. (Eds.). (2007). Solutions Focus Working: 80 Real Life Lessons for Successful Organisational Change. Solutionsbooks, Cheltenham.
• Miller, G., & De Shazer, S. (1998). Have you heard the latest rumor about…? Solution-Focused therapy as a rumor. Family Process, 37, 363–377.