Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Essay

549 Words3 Pages

Within Psychotherapy, there has been a progression from longer to shorter forms of treatment. Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) supports this progression and abandons the complex model whereby the therapist has a more leadership role (Bannick, 2005). SFBT was developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg as well as other colleagues in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the 1980s. Solution-Focused brief therapy focuses on helping clients build solutions rather than solving problems (Iverson, 2002). SFBT emphasizes on fixing what is broken by finding ways that are useful (de Shazer, 1985). Clients are encouraged to believe that making changes is possible and counsellors help them to focus on what is going good in their lives rather than what is going wrong. Treatments are brief, usually less than 6 sessions are carried out. …show more content…

The basic assumption when it comes to SFBT is that a problem is not constant, therefore there is no need to focus on it in order to find a solution (Bannick, 2005) .There is the notion that change is continual and inevitable. It is not a question of whether change will occur, it is when it will happen (Selekman, 1993). The use of hypothetical questions as well as the miracle question in SFBT directs the attention on finding solutions rather than problem solving (Berg et al, 1994). Clients are believed to have the necessary means to change and there is no need to go deeply into a problem in order to solve it (O’Hanlon & Weiner-Davis, 1989). The solution to a client’s problem lies inside the person but remains hidden (Selekman, 1993). These are known as exceptions and focusing more on these exceptions leads the way for the search of solutions (Selekman,