Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) focuses on what the client

aims to achieve in the present and the future, and explores ways in which these goals
might be realized.

Read more at Suite101: What is Solution Focused Brief Therapy?: An Introduction to a

Forward Thinking Therapeutic Approach http://www.suite101.com/content/what-is-
solution-focused-brief-therapy-a209470#ixzz16hscUwbi

Solution Focused Brief Therapy is a talking therapy that encourages the client to discuss
goals for change and realise means by which this change can be achieved. Utilising and
developing the individual’s existing strengths and resources is central to this therapeutic
approach.

SFBT does not focus so much on the past and the problems that have brought clients to
therapy, but uses careful questioning to invite the client to imagine an ideal future.
Clients then work on making the necessary changes to move closer to this ideal.

Questioning Techniques and Change in SFBT

Change is central to SFBT, and the role of the therapist is to help the client to foster an
awareness of their capacity for movement towards a preferred future. This entails a series
of different questioning techniques.

• The Miracle Question involves asking the client to imagine how their future
would look in an ideal world, with particular attention to the absence of the
problem that brought them to therapy in the first place. Positive goals are
formulated and Scaling Questions are used to measure progress.
• Scaling Questions are used to monitor change in the client, who rates their
position on a scale, usually ranging from one (the worst scenario) to ten (the best
scenario). Careful exploration enables clients to identify resources that enable
movement along the scale towards their rating of a better future. Exception
Seeking Questions are a core component in this process of exploration.
• Exception Seeking Questions assume that there are always times when the
problem is less acute, and investigate what enables this to be so. The client can
then use this knowledge to improve their situation and gain confidence in their
own autonomy. Coping Questions also assist in this approach.
• Coping Questions are used to elicit examples of times when the client coped with
even the most dire of situations, so that a problem-focused narrative can be
 challenged and transformed into a more positive and solution focused alternative.
This transformation is supported by the utilisation of Problem-Free Talk.
• Problem-Free Talk focuses on areas outside of the problem and enables both
therapist and client to establish an atmosphere in which the strengths and positive
qualities of the latter can be emphasised and drawn upon to help improve other
areas of life. Hobbies and social activities often provide excellent examples for
this.

Uses of SFBT

SFBT has been successfully utilised across a variety of contexts, including substance
abuse, eating disorders and relationship counselling. Those who have benefited from it
include psychiatric populations, couples, offenders and young people.

Different permutations of SFBT have evolved in recent years, and now include Solution
Focused Counselling and Solution Focused Consulting. The principles of SFBT and its
underlying social constructionist philosophy are also used in conjunction with other
forms of therapy.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy's Role

Solution Focused Brief Therapy is characterised by its attention to fostering potential for
change in clients, to help them realise and utilise their strengths and resources to achieve
a better present and future.

Through constructing a positive narrative that focuses upon the client’s autonomy,
therapists use a variety of questioning techniques to help the individual envisage an
improved life and make the necessary changes to move towards this end.

Read on

• Carl Rogers and the Person-Centred Approach

• Book Review on Master Your Mind
• What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

Sources:

Campbell, J., Elder, J., Gallagher, D. Simon, J., & Taylor, A (1999). "Crafting the 'tap on
the shoulder': A compliment template for solution focused therapy". American Journal of
Family Therapy, 27(1), 35 - 47.

Gingerich, W. J. & Eisengart, S, (2000). "Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: A Review of

the Outcome Research". Family Process, 39(4), 477-498.
Hoyt, M. F. "Solution-focused couple therapy". In Alan S. Gurman and Neil S. Jacobson
(eds), Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy (3rd Edition) 2002. New York: Guildford
Press.

Lethem, J (2002). "Brief Solution Focused Therapy". Child and Adolescent Mental
Health, 7(4), 189-192.

Metcalf, L., & Thomas, F. (1994). "Client and therapist perceptions of solution focused
brief therapy: A qualitative analysis". Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 5(4),49–66.

Miller, G. & Shazer, S. (2000). "Emotions in Solution-Focused Therapy: A Re-

examination". Family Process, 39(1), 5-23.

Zimmerman, T. S., Prest, L. A., & Wetzel, B. E. (1997). "Solution-focused Couples

Therapy Groups: An Empirical Study". Journal of Family Therapy, 19(2), 125-144.