Applying Solution-Focused Harm Reduction in Treatment
Please note: This webinar is not eligible for continuing education (CE) credit due to its informal, conversational format. Participants who attend the full live session will, however, receive a Certificate of Attendance.
This training is for professionals working with people who have faced challenges due to substance abuse and/or whose actions have harmed others. This includes social workers, psychologists, clinical counselors, and interested paraprofessionals.
Justice-involved clients frequently present for treatment with a history of substance use disorders. Solution-Focused Harm Reduction (SFHR) is a compassionate approach to treating these clients. While Solution-Focused
Therapy offers a practical framework for supporting clients, harm reduction approaches recognize that focusing solely on abstinence tends to limit engagement and overlooks the diverse realities of people’s lives.
SFHR brings the two approaches together. By blending harm reduction’s pragmatic and nonjudgmental stance with Solution-Focused Therapy’s strengths-based, goal-oriented methods, SFHR offers a compassionate approach to supporting people with problematic behaviors, such as substance use disorders.
In this webinar, Dr. Séan Foy introduces SFHR as a practical approach to working with people who use substances or display other high-risk behaviors. He explains the many synergies between solution-focused therapy and harm reduction and describes how the two approaches are complementary and, when used together, create a novel approach to addiction work.
Dr. Foy demonstrates how to build respectful, collaborative relationships that focus on what’s working, what’s possible, and what clients want for themselves—regardless of whether abstinence is the goal. He shows how professionals with the tools to engage meaningfully with clients, even those mired in complex or chaotic situations, can produce better outcomes.
Who's Presenting
Séan Foy, D.Clin Psych, M.A, B.Sc, Dip.,Reg Psychol PsSi,ACI, IACP
Dr. Foy is the Founder and Managing Director of The Learning Curve Institute and is a Clinical Psychologist who has worked in the caring profession for over 30 years. Throughout his career Seán has worked in a variety of settings, mainly with people who may be experiencing addiction and/or mental health challenges. Seán holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (NUI, Galway), a Masters in Addiction Studies (Middlesex University), an Honours degree in Social Work (Metropolitan University, London) and an Honours degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Middlesex University), a Diploma in Drug Dependence (The Maudsley Hospital London), and a Higher Diploma in Education (Bristol University of the West of England). Dr. Foy is also a lecturer in Psychology and Mental Health studies in The Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and an adjunct lecturer at NUI Galway on the Masters in Social Work and the Clinical Doctorate in Psychology.
Seán works from an evidence-based approach and strongly believes in working in a way that is considered, compassionate, and creates a meaningful relationship with people. He has delivered presentations to a variety of international conferences and continues to be involved in research. Most recently he presented at the UKASFP Conference Oxford 2023 on the topic of his book ‘Solution Focused Harm Reduction’ which is available on Amazon. The presentation explained the many synergies between solution focused brief therapy and harm reduction and how these two approaches are complementary and when used in conjunction, create a novel way of approaching addiction work. Seán was honoured to present at the Citizens Assembly on Drug Use (June 2023) on the Bio-Psycho-Social model and participated on the panel of experts in relation to treatment.