About My Therapy Style

Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT)

Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) targets the desired outcome of therapy as a solution rather than focusing on the symptoms or issues that brought someone to therapy. This technique only gives attention to the present and the future desires of the client, rather than focusing on the past experiences. The therapist encourages the client to imagine their future as they want it to be and then the therapist and client collaborate on a series of steps to achieve that goal. This form of therapy involves reviewing and dissecting the client's vision, and determining what skills, resources, and abilities the client will develop and use to attain his desired outcome. Solution focused therapy was developed by Steve De Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg, and their team at the Brief Family Therapy Family Center in Milwaukee, USA.

How Does Solution Focused Brief Therapy Work?

SFBT is a form of talk therapy that maintains that change is inevitable and constant. The therapist who conducts the SFBT will examine the elements of the client's life that they wish to alter and also those elements that want to leave unchanged. Working together, the client and therapist devise a vision of what the possible future could look like. They work to mold and define it as detailed as they can in order to allow the client to hold that clear picture in his or her mind.

The therapist then guides the client in finding specific moments in his or her life in which he or she felt similar to what he or she may experience in his potential future image. Correlating the two visions, or experiences, allows the client to identify which actions they took in the past to achieve a similar outcome to the one they would like to achieve in the future. Often the client is hindered from making forward progress due to the results that came following the happy experience. However, the basis of this form of therapy is to maintain a constant focus on the future, and to only rely on the past experiences as a resource.

What are some of the benefits of choosing solution-based therapy?

• Focusing on your strengths always produces the best return on your investment. It's true that most clients don't come to therapy wanting to improve something they are already good at. However, a solution-focused therapist will work hard to identify the client's strengths in order to help the client use these strengths in areas where they do want to improve. Imagine your life as a pie chart, with each slice of pie a different size. At any given time, some section of the pie is going to be off or not functioning at it's best. That's normal; we have a lot of pie on our plate! A client who is problem-focused is looking only at this once slice of the pie. A solution-focused therapist is going to help the client fix that slice by balancing strengths that are part of the rest of the pie. For example, a couple might come to therapy complaining generally of having .communication issues,. but upon further questions from a solution-focused therapist, it might turn out that these issues only arise during a specific topic, or under certain circumstances. The couple might have excellent communication skills and just have not figured out how to apply them to their problem area.
• People are always trying to right themselves. While you might know a constant complainer who you secretly think does a pretty good job at self-sabotaging, remember that they don't see their life this way. A solution-focused therapist doesn't, either. When a client and therapist can tap into the right system to solve problems, the client's constant efforts to right themselves will eventually work. A solution-focused therapist works hard to believe the best in the client and to act as a coach and facilitator toward the client's goals.
• Thoughts are our best predictors of happiness. Why does research show cognitive therapy to be as effective as some medication for mental illness? Because we know that there is a direct link between the thoughts you think and the feelings you feel. When practiced over time, healthy and productive thoughts produce effective long-term results.

Solution-focused therapy focuses on the present and the future. It is concerned with today's problems and tomorrow's concerns.