Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Paper

572 Words3 Pages

Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is future-focused, goal-oriented therapeutic approach to brief therapy developed initially by Steve de Shazaer and Insoo Kim Berg at the Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee in the early 1980s (Corey p. 371). In this type of therapy, therapists engage clients in talking about the problem, but focus on leading them outside of the problem (Clarke p. 430). The clients’ strengths and resiliencies are emphasized during the session by focusing on exceptions to their problems and their conceptualized solutions (Carey p. 371). The key to this therapy is the therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the client. The therapeutic bond formed between the client and therapist is based on mutual trust and …show more content…

The miracle question is used to assist the client with specifying their goals toward solution building ( Clarke p. 431). Examples of the miracle question would be “how would it look if you changed this problem” or “what would be different about your life.” These type of questions are used to help the client picture future solutions, which they may experience emotionally. The scaling questions are used to qualify the clients’ confidence that change is possible. Scaling questions serve as patterns of connections for clients to measure, assess, and evaluate their own situations, impressions, observations, and predictions (Clarke p. 431). For example, a man might be asked; on a scale of zero to 10 , with zero being how you felt your fist day in therapy and 10 being how you will feel the day your problem goes away, how would you rate your depression. Corey states that even if the client has moved from zero to one, he has improved. SFBT uses exception questions to assess the pattern for when the problem did not exist, thereby increasing the chance of the client recognizing self-genereated problem solving (Clarke p. 431). The questions and the client’s goals are intertwined with compliments (Clarke p/ 432). Compliments are useful in SFBT because they show appreciation to the client’s lives, accomplishments, and