2018 EBTA Conference book:

MAKING WAVES: SOLUTION FOCUSED PRACTICE IN EUROPE       
© PIK-BS, Sofia, 2018

You can order your copy of the book from Registration.

Price – 30 Euro.

Welcome to the EBTA Conference 2018 in Sofia!

Dear EBTA Members and Friends,

It is my pleasure to invite you to the 2018 European Brief Therapy Association Conference in Sofia. It is also my great pleasure to say that this year we will be celebrating our 25^th Anniversary.

To those who joined us recently, EBTA might seem like a big frigate that has been sailing the seas for the past twenty-five years. They might feel like they embarked on a journey on a mighty ship. But those of us who have been on board for longer remember that when EBTA first set sail, it seemed more like a fishing boat than a frigate. Why did we decide to join such a small boat? It was our first captains Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer that made us want to join back then. They told us a story about new, undiscovered lands in therapy – a story about the respect the clients deserve for their efforts and strengths. A story about the trust and the hope that can be found through therapy. An unusual story. So we set sail and started our journey. Sometimes we fought against winds and waves, we faced storms and probably even met some pirates. But we sailed on, and worked hard year by year to make our ship bigger and better.

Along the way, we discovered new continents and islands and we stopped in the ports we visited. Some of us decided to settle down there. We became respectful members of local communities, as we put our SFBT ideas and practices to work, and changed the local communities. Some continued the journey to discover new lands.

Now, we are welcomed in whatever harbour we visit. We are recognized for our knowledge and skills, our curiosity, our ethics, and our respect for others. It feels good to be a sailor on such a mighty ship. We have achieved a lot in the past twenty-five years, but there is still more to do and learn. So let us meet in Sofia to talk about the past years and set new directions.

Help us decide where we go next. You must be there!

Jacek Lelonkiewicz
EBTA President