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Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Overview

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a pragmatic, goal-directed approach developed in the 1980s that emphasizes future solutions rather than past problems. Therapists in SFBT adopt a non-judgmental role, facilitating sessions with techniques like scaling questions and the miracle question to help clients identify and achieve their goals. While effective for various issues, SFBT may not be suitable in situations where dialogue cannot be established or where deeper empathy is required.

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18 views11 pages

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Overview

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a pragmatic, goal-directed approach developed in the 1980s that emphasizes future solutions rather than past problems. Therapists in SFBT adopt a non-judgmental role, facilitating sessions with techniques like scaling questions and the miracle question to help clients identify and achieve their goals. While effective for various issues, SFBT may not be suitable in situations where dialogue cannot be established or where deeper empathy is required.

Uploaded by

ameeshashaji2019
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Solution Focused Brief

Therapy
Neha Kangralkar
Assistant Professor
Department of Clinical Psychology
YSAHS
Introduction
● Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a future-focused, goal-directed
approach to brief therapy developed initially by Insoo Kim Berg, Steve de
Shazer, and their colleagues and clients at the Milwaukee Brief Family
Therapy Center in the early 1980s.
Major Tenets of SFBT
● SFBT is not theory based, but was pragmatically developed
● If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
● If it works, do more of it.
● If it’s not working, do something different.
● Small steps can lead to big changes.
● The solution is not necessarily directly related to the problem.
● The language for solution development is different from that needed to
describe a problem.
● No problems happen all the time; there are always exceptions that can be
utilized
Role of Therapists
● The role of the therapist in SFBT is different than in many other
psychotherapeutic approaches.
● SFBT therapists almost never pass judgments about their clients, and avoid
making any interpretations about the meanings behind their wants, needs, or
behaviors
● . SFBT therapists lead the session, but they do so in a gentle way, “leading
from one step behind”
SFBT Techniques/Questions
1. The Pretreatment Change Question
- What changes have you noticed that have happened or started to
happen since you called to make the appointment for this session?
[Link] Questions
- On a scale of 1–10, with 1 being the “very worst possible” and 10
being the “very best possible,” how would you rate how well you’ve
been handling your anger this past week?
Miracle Question
“Suppose you were to go home tonight, and while you were asleep, a
miracle happened and this problem was solved. How will you know the
miracle happened? What will be different? “
Other Questions
● Coping Questions
Other Questions/Techniques
- Present focused questions instead of past focused questions
- Problem Free Talk
- Use of Homeworks outside therapy hour
- Exception Questions/scenarios
INDICATIONS OF SOLUTION FOCUSED THERAPY
- SFBT is an effective way of helping people with diverse problems varying
from alcohol abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder, personality disorders
depression, eating disorders, relationship problems.
- It is applied to children, adolescents, adults, to groups, in education, and in
management & coaching.
- It is suitable for a wide variety of clients, whereby it is of importance that the
client has a goal (or is able to formulate one during psychotherapy).
Contraindications
- Any situation where it is impossible to establish a dialogue with the client:
emergencies, life threatening situations, threats of suicide, or psychotic
episodes (medication might be indicated in the case of acute psychosis or
deep depression. At a later stage medication often helps a client undertake
solution-focused conversations).
- Its quick, goal-oriented nature may not allow therapists the necessary time to
empathize with what people in treatment are experiencing.
- SFBT seems to simply discard or ignore information deemed important by
other treatment modalities.
References
More than Miracle: The state of the Art of Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Clinical Interviewing 5th Ed by Flanagan

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