"Creating the kinds of relationships and conversations that allow all participants
to access their creativities and develop possibilities where none seemed to exist before"

Harlene Anderson is recognized internationally as being at the leading edge of postmodern collaborative practices as a creative thinker, therapist, consultant, coach, and educator. She takes her tools worldwide--her insights, her curiosity, her engaging conversational style, her leadership skills and her keen interest--to help others create new and often surprising possibilities and astonishing results for their clients, students, organizations and themselves. She embodies her own belief in learning as a lifelong process--inviting, encouraging and challenging people to be inquisitive, creative, authentic and open to the ever-present possibilities for newness in others--and in themselves.

Transforming Relationships and Conversations

Harlene's collaborative partnership model to understanding and working with people has been successfully implemented with individuals and a variety of organizations in the private and public sectors presenting a wide range of challenges. (See Books and Articles; Selected Writings: Conversations, Language and Possibilities; A Postmodern Collaborative Approach to Therapy; Collaborative Therapy: Conversations and Relationships that Make a Difference; Journeys of a Postmodern Collaborative Therapist: Part I; Journeys of a Postmodern Collaborative Therapist: Part II.)

Her approach has proven quite effective in resolving complex concerns such as those experienced by business leaders--managers, teams and executives--building bridges between business strategies and people, creating pathways to success. Her approach, first developed for families, has proven particularly successful in resolving business challenges and dilemmas for those who have had little success with other consultation approaches. (See Collaborative Inquiry: A Postmodern Approach to Organizational Consultation and Appreciative Organizations.)

Trainings, Consultation, Coaching and Keynotes

Harlene offers customized trainings, consultations and coaching around the world. She is a sought-after speaker on a variety of topics, and is known for her engaging, inspiring and thought-provoking style.

Proven Success

Her success, expertise and leadership are exemplified in her positions as a founding member and board member of the Houston Galveston Institute, Taos Institute and AccessSuccess International and as an Associate of the Silver Fox Advisors. She is a member of the editorial review boards of several journals, is the founding editor of the International Journal of Collaborative Practices. She has presented at numerous national and international conferences. International Journal of Collaborative Practices. (See What Others have Said)

Books and Articles

Harlene has authored and co-authored several books including the ground-breaking Conversation, Language, and Possibilities--A Postmodern Approach to Therapy: It's translation to Chinese, Czech, Danish, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Portugese, Spanish, and Swedish demonstrates the usefulness of her approach across cultures.

Other books include: Collaborative Therapy: Relationships and Conversations that Make a Difference www.postmoderntherapy.com/CollTher/ coedited with Diane Gehart and Innovations in the Reflecting Process, coedited with Per Jensen. She also co-authored Appreciative Organizations.

Awards

Among her many awards are the prestigious 2008 American Academy of Family Therapy Award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice, the 2000 Outstanding Contributions to Marriage and Family Therapy Award from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.