What is Solution Focused Brief Therapy?
Solution focused practice or solution focused brief therapy was initially developed by Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer in the 1980s with their team in Milwaukee in the United States . They were interested in what elements and questions of the therapy produced the most rapid change, dropping elements that didn't appear to have a bearing on it. They noticed that talking more about what was working and less about the problem was a factor in how quickly clients terminated their sessions. Many early adopters of the practice have continued to continue developing solution focused as a minimalist, evidenced-based practice.
One of the common consequences of a serious problem is that it clouds our view of the future. We know that we don't want the problem but we have lost sight of what it is we do want. Practitioners applying a solution focused approach focus on client's preferred futures, on what already works towards this preferred future, on their resources, and on signs of progress. As an interactional approach solution focused has successfully been applied to many other fields outside therapy like coaching, social work, supervision, consulting, management, leadership, education amongst others and is becoming internationally renowned which is why it is sometimes more simply called solution focused practice as it has branched out of the therapy room.
“As an interactional approach SF has successfully been applied to many other fields outside therapy like coaching, social work, supervision, consulting, management, leadership, education amongst others and is becoming more and more internationally renowned.”
In my experience, solution focused is more inspiring than other approaches as the client's autonomy of how change happens is maintained throughout. Through their descriptions, they become the architects of their own change. Solution focused is a therapy that regards the client as a hero in their own lives with a wealth of experience to draw upon to describe a better future. All the therapist has to do is tap into this wealth. Once a feeling of hope and possibilities arises, everything changes. When clients find hope, possibility and resilience soon follow. Clients with hope find new ways of engaging with the world, new ways of engaging with themselves and others. They not only survive the turmoil in their lives, they learn from it and begin to thrive. I've been practising solution focused for many years now with every imaginable problem - especially the extra baggage that comes with alcohol and drug dependency - and I am still amazed every time at the heroism I have had the privilege of listening to. I'll be the person to listen and invite you through that description.
No matter how difficult or unpleasant your circumstances, there are always reasons to be hopeful and reasons to feel inspired to keep going. From an outside perspective, it’s actually a bit odd how impactful a solution focused session can be because we don't give the client answers to their problems or directions on how to proceed, yet they leave therapy changed and prompted to live differently. That’s because within those sessions, they’ve found reasons to have belief in good expectations of the future and work really hard to get there. The reasons are always there, and anyone who sits with us in conversation gets a chance to carefully find them.
For Professionals
For me, SFBT is enough. I now no longer use any other model of therapy. I have no problem with other therapies. They are all amazing. I am also, after all, a qualified CBT therapist. SFBT is just different.
I'd be interested to hear from you if you would like to know more about what it means to practice Solution focused on its' own, what resources are out there, and what is so appealing about it. Solution-focused isn't easy. I know because I've been trying for years to improve. It needs lots of practise but it's so rewarding to listen to a client describe their hopes and dreams and realise them.
I'd love to meet others around Glasgow if you are already using SFBT so we can spread the word together about SFBT as a serious practice and have times we can chat about our successes. Let's see if we can put this evidence-based practice on the city map.
I'm also open to training the Solution-focused approach. SF can't be learned in a day but you can certainly start practising with a day's training. I did and never looked back. It is now used in many professions, not just counselling, so if you aren't a therapist, get in touch if you are curious to see how it could help.