Have you got a clear view of what the ideal outcome would be to your problem? If you’re having problems in your relationship, how would you envisage your ideal relationship; how would you like your interaction with your child/parent to be; what will life look like if you are no longer depressed, anxious or addicted; can you mentally paint your ideal picture of the happy family life that you would like? Many of my clients profess never to have thought of this and gain much satisfaction in trying to put together the details of these visions or ideals.
With a vision or ideal scenario in mind you can more easily and pragmatically go about taking the steps to achieve it; they provide a goal. Since putting this into practice is often not as easy as it sounds, solution-focused therapy helps clients to focus on their vision of what they want to achieve – in all its detail – and facilitates them in making steps towards its attainment. It doesn’t have to be a grand vision; it helps if it is realistic and seems achievable to you. Visions can change and often do, because as clients take steps to implement them they often gain a clearer view of what they want and what they would like to do to attain this. If you’re up for it it can be an exciting and life changing experience, albeit hard work.
As we saw recently Olympic and Paralympic athletes are a great example of people who have a vision of what they want to achieve and who have taken focussed steps towards achieving this goal. Many didn’t achieve gold but what they learned and achieved along the way will help them to adapt their future vision and consequently redefine the necessary steps to achieve it.
Visions don’t have to be this big, they come in all sizes – it doesn’t matter what they’re made of, just so long as the vision is uniquely yours.