About

Michael Hjerth

Psychologist, Philosopher, Musician

Michael Hjerth was born in Stockholm 1960. After a career as a musician and music teacher he studied psychology and philosophy at the University of Lund Sweden and graduated in 1991. After a brief period at the philosophical institution in Lund, he decided to focus on therapy and began working as a solution-focused therapist in Malmö, Sweden at the same time. Michael became intrested in the application of the solution-focused model beyond the therapy-room, and developed several models to aid the transition to contexts like coaching, leadership, employmentwork and work-health.

In 1997 he moved back to his birthtown Stockholm to join FKC, one of the pioneering SF groups in Sweden to focus on training and developing the SF-model. Michael developed the PLUS-model has been very influencial and led to, among other things, applications in group-work with burn-out problems. The idea of possibility-language and the linguistic construction of solutions focused questions and processes has also been central to his work. Michael is one of the most sought after trainers and consultants in Sweden, well know for his combination of clear philosophy and minimalistic practicallity. In his native country he has trained hundreds of professionals in social-work, rehabilitation, employmentwork, therapy and management.

In recent years, he has been interested in the borderlines of solution-focused work, and its relationship with research on complexity, luck, neurobiology, organisational work, language etc. In line the with minimalist traditions in SF, he has also been developing techniques to integrate SF-practice in the fast-paced worklife, where hour-long conversation often is a unatainable luxury.

Internationally he has been active since the beginning of the 90:s and has appeared in conferences in a large number of European countries. He has served as the secretary of the Europead Brief Therapy Association (EBTA) and is currently a board member of that organisation. He also belongs to the steering group of Solutions in Organisations Linkup (SOL), which is the international organisation for SF-in organisations, managent and the workplace.

Professional Training

  • Licensed psychologist (M.Sc.) 1993

  • Philosophy (B.A) 1993

  • Solutionfocused work: regular trainings and supervision with Steve De Shazer and members of the BFTC since 1993

  • Ett stort antal kortare seminarier kring lösningsfokus, accelererat lärande, familjeterapi Employment

  • Lönnens öppenvård, Kristianstad kommun 1992-1995 (therapist and supervisor)

  • Avenbokens öppenvård, Malmö kommun 1995-1997 (therapist, trainer and supervisor)

  • FKC -Center for Solution-Focused Approaches 1997-2006 (Supervisor, trainer and consultant)

  • Framtidscoach- (2005-, founder, consultant, trainer)

Experience as trainer

  • Philosophy of science for psychotherapist, Helsingborg college of health 1992

  • Philosophy of science, Lund University 1992

  • Critical thinking, Lund University 1992

  • Solution-focused Therapy, Uppsala University 2000 och 2002

  • International workshops, conference workshop since 1993 (Sweden, Finland, Poland, Great Britain, Iceland, Bulgaria, Spain, Germany, Bulgarien, England, Tyskland)

  • Apr. 1000 days of training and supervision with professionals (social-workers, employment officers, HR-staff, therapist, managers, rehabilitation-workers, Schools, social services, Rehabilitation centers, and other organisations.

Bibliography

  • Hjerth, M., Knutsson, C., & Norsell, E. (1988). Einfachheit: Sind wir dumm genug um herauszufinden, was zum Teufel der Klient will. i W. Eberling & M. Vogt- Hillman (Eds.), Kurzgefabt: Zum Stand der Lösungsorientierten Praxis in Europa (sida 97-107). Dortmund: Löer Druck GmbH.

  • Hjerth, M: På spår efter lösningar, en liten introduktion till lösningsfokus (www.framtidscoach.se 1997)

  • Norman, H with Pidsley, T and Hjerth, M: Solution Focused Reflecting Teams in Action i Positive Approaches to Change, ed. Mark McKergow, M och Jenny Clarke, (SolutionsBooks, 2005)

  • McKergow, M och Hjerth, M: Conveying Simplicity: Learning how to act simply in complex situations i SOL2006 conference procedings, red. Lueger, G och Korn, H, PEF University, Wien, 2006)

Internet

www.openchanges.com (blog)

www.framtidscoach.se (swedish)

www.youtube.com/michaelhjerth (videos)

Contact

Michael Hjerth Segeflygsgatan 39 128 33 Skarpnäck Sweden

mobile: +46-703258837 E-mail: michael@framtidscoach.se