Solution Focused Brief
Therapy
Megan Rohlik
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
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Megan Rohlik
Page 1
Intro
• Solution Focused Brief Therapy
– Future focused
– Goal oriented
– Shifts from problem solving to focus on
solutions
• Main Figures
– Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg
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Page 2
Key Concepts
• Positive Orientation
– Optimistic approach
– People are resilient, resourceful, competent
– Build on strengths and past successes
• Focus on Solutions, Not Problems
– Little interest on presenting problem or past
issues
– Clients choose goals they wish to accomplish
– Little attention is paid to the exploration of the
problem
• Look for What is Working
– Instances of successes
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– Creating situations through narratives to
Page 3
Role and Functions of the Group
Leader
• Not Knowing Position
– Group members as experts
– Collaborative stance not consultation
– Creating the chance to help clients see
themselves as experts
– We hold life experience but enter the clients
world as unknowing and curious
• Use of Language
– Avoid diagnosis, assessment and intervention
– Narratives and positive solutions
• Shifts Responsibility to Group Members
– Group leaders assist members to be cofacilitators
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– Leads to support and encouragement of each
Page 4
Therapeutic Partnership
• Collaborative Relationship
• “What you want to accomplish, not
why you are here”
• Relational necessities
– Care, interest, respectful curiosity,
openness and empathy
– Solution track not a problem track
• Create a climate of mutual respect,
dialogue, inquiry and affirmation
– Helping the members imagine how they
would like things to be different
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Page 5
Process
• Find out what clients WANT not what
they don’t want
• Do not look for a diagnosis
• If what members are doing is not
working, encourage them to experiment
with other solutions
• Therapy is to be brief by approaching
each session as the one and only
session
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Page 6
Process
• Setting the Tone
– Focus on solutions from the beginning
– Describe problems briefly
• Setting Goals
• Exceptions to the Problem
– Asking about times when the problems
were not present or less severe
• Encourage Motivation
• Assisting with Task Development
– Offer feedback
– Encourage other members to offer
feedback
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– Next steps
Page 7
Application
Pre-Therapy Change
• Changes made before the initial
session
– “What have you done since you called
that has made a difference in your
problem?”
– Relies less on therapist and more on
their own resources
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Page 8
Application
Questioning
• Primary communication tool
• Main intervention
• Asked from a position of respect,
curiosity, interest and openness
• Another question stems from each
answer
– Other members are encouraged to
respond to promote collaboration
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Page 9
Application
Exception Questions
• Questions that direct members to
times when the problem did not exist
– Reminds people that problems are not allpowerful and have not always been there
– Gives the members to evoke resources,
engage strengths and find possible
solutions
• Change talk
– Ask members what has to happen for
these exceptions to occur more often
• Listen for signs Free
of previous
solutions
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and exceptions
Page 10
Application
The Miracle Question
• “If a miracle happened and the problem
you have was solved overnight, how would
you know it was solved, and what would be
different?”
– Designed to enable group members to
visualize what life would look like without the
problem
• Let yourself imagine if you leave this group
today and that you are on track to acting
more confidently and securely. What will
you be doing differently?”
– This changes what they are doing
– Changing how they view the problem
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– Conversation about strengths to promote
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Application
Scaling Questions
• “On a scale of 0-10…”
• Used when changes in human
experience are not easily observed
• When a member moves only 1
mark it is an improvement
• Enables clients to pay closer
attention to what they are doing and
steps that will lead to change
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Page 12
Application
Formula First Session Task
• Form of homework between first and
second session
• Observe in the week what happens
within the life situation that you want to
continue to happen
• Second session you report back and this
tends to increase optimism and hope
• Generally report change or
improvements since the first session
after this is competed
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Page 13
Application
Therapist Feedback to Group Members
• Summary feedback
• Compliments
– Affirmations of what the client is already
doing
– Form of encouragement and hope
• Bridge
– Links initial compliments to suggested tasks
– Rationale for suggestions
• Suggesting Tasks
– Considered homework
– Can be observational or behavioral
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Page 14
SFBT in Schools
• Offers school counselors a
framework to achieving small,
concrete changes to help students
find a more positive direction
• We are able to provide effective
counseling to more students in less
time
• Underscores the importance of
small changes and co-constructed
goals
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• Helps studentsFree
develop
positive
Page 15
SFBT in Schools
• Effective and practical because it
emphasizes “what works” rather than
“why” it is a problem
• Encourages the acceptance and
accommodation of diverse opinions
and beliefs
• Based on clear concepts and
relatively easy to learn
• Strength based approach
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Page 16
SFBT in Schools
5 steps
• Students identify a well-defined goal that
has meaning
• Students then say what their lives would be
like without the problems that are blocking
their goals
• Counselor facilitates students’ recognition of
times when the problem did not exist
• Counselor asks students to establish a
baseline rating that reflects the severity and
then design specific tasks to move up the
scale with a clear direction
• Counselor constructs a written message to
students that compliments effort and tasks
to complete
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Page 17
SFBT with Multicultural
Populations
•
•
•
Works well with cultures that prefer to engage in direct
behavior change rather than focusing on feelings and
cognitions
Cultures that want a practical approach to making things
better
Counselor questions:
– Tell me more about the influence that (cultural aspect)
has played in your life
– What can you share with me about your background that
will help me fully understand you?
– What challenges have you faced growing up in your
culture?
– What if anything about your background has been
difficult for you?
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– How have you been able to draw on strengths and
Page 18
SFBT with Multicultural
Populations
• Limitations, “Client as Expert”
– Many cultures elevate the
professional as the expert and want
direction and solutions from you
– Making the client the expert shows
lack of confidence in the therapists
ability
– If clients want ideas because it is
culturally proper, the therapist may
discuss what these ideas would
consist of which keeps the session
solution focused
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Page 19
Contributions and Strengths
• Optimistic orientation
• Non-pathologizing stance
• In group work the questioning is very
positive and future oriented
• Brief approach with promising results
– Outcome studies show positive and
effective outcomes
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Page 20
Limitations
• Some group members think it is an end to
itself with no set formulas or recipes
• Untrained leaders are enamored by the
techniques but may not have the right
attitudes about them
– The ability to use these questions in a genuine
and respectful manner
– Strength may not mesh with their experience
which can cause conflict
• Therapists need to learn how to use the
clinical skills in a timely way
– Make assessments, assist in formulating goals
and effectively use interventions
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Page 21
SFBT Recap
• Be POSITIVE
• SOLUTIONS not problems
– Problem talk stays with the problem
– Change talk promotes change
• QUESTIONS
– Exception
– Scaling
– Miracle
• LANGUAGE
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Page 22
References
References
Corey, G.(2008). Theory
and Practice of Group
Counseling (7th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
• Corey, G.(2008). Theory and
Practice of Group Counseling (7th
ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
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