Are you tired of therapists going over your past? Asking you about every little detail, thinking it will count or it would somehow magically be the answer to your problem? Are you tired of problem solving techniques altogether? Then I have good news for you.
There’s something called Solution Focused Brief Therapy (techniques), and it is being used by coaches and psychotherapists internationally to help you reach your guaranteed solution by focusing on your current situation.
If the name didn’t give you any clue, I’ll simplify it to you even more.
Solution: it focuses on solutions rather than the problem that brought you to seek therapy.
Focused: it is future goal oriented, you and the therapist will work cooperatively (without any force) to identify a future where your problems don’t exist.
Brief: There won’t be any unnecessary extra sessions. It is not meant to continue for years, as are some other forms of therapy.
Therapy: it is an approach based on constructive therapy (which views the person in treatment as the agent of change, therefore he or she may change for the better)
How Solution Focused Brief Therapy came to exist:
Solution Focused brief therapy was developed by Steve de Shazer, and Insoo Kim Berg (1934-2007) and their colleagues beginning in the late 1970’s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The entire solution-focused approach was developed inductively in an inner city outpatient mental health service setting where Steve and Berg spent hundreds of hours observing therapy sessions over the course of the years, carefully noting the therapists’ questions and behaviors during the session and how their techniques affected the clients emotionally.
By paying close attention to the clients, they got to figure out what they wanted, when they wanted it, and what exactly worked best for them.
How is that diffrent from normal therapy?
You see,This was a great deal back then, especially because it contradicted traditional psychotherapies (such as cognitive therapy) that focused more on problem solving and going backwards to the past, rather than solution building and going forward to the future.
Since then, SFBT has not only become one of the leading schools of brief therapy, it has also become a major influence in other fields such as business, social policy, education, and criminal justice services.
The SFBT approach assumes that we all have some knowledge of what would make our lives better, but sometimes we just need a little push (from a therapist) to describe the details of our better life and work towards it.
It also believes that everyone who seeks help already possesses at least the minimal skills necessary to create solutions.
What does it treat exactly?
SFBT can stand alone as a therapy, or it can be incorporated into other long-term therapy types. It is used to treat people of all ages and a variety of issues, including child behavioral problems, grief, phobia, domestic or child abuse, trauma, and relationship problems.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t help treat psychiatric disorders such as depression or schizophrenia. All it can do is offer help improve the lifestyle of those suffering from these conditions.
What does SFBT focus on?
- Change is unenviable.
- Emphasis on what can be changed.
- Patients must want to change.
- Patients are the leaders of their own change.
- Therapy is short-term.
- Focus on the future, the past is not as important.
How Does Solution Focused Brief Therapy Work?
Therapists will frequently work with the person in treatment to create a chain of events (action-thought-reaction) in order to uncover how his patterns of thought, emotion, or behavior have affected his life so far and how they might continue to do so in the future.
This is done by following some of these techniques:
1. Goal setting:
The therapist will begin by questioning you about your best hopes for this session, how will you know that you no longer need to come and see him/her? And what will be different exactly?
By answering these types of questions, you can begin to identify solutions and come up with a plan for change
2. Asking about previous solutions:
The therapist will try to help you by using your own techniques; he’ll ask you about how you’ve been treating this so far. And if the solutions you’ve been using prove to be helpful then you’ll carry on using them, only with better guidance.
3. Exception Questions in Solution Focused Therapy:
The therapist will try to ask you about the times when you did not face your problem. For example: Tell me about the last time you did not have a panic attack.
4. Offering Compliments:
The therapist will be your comfort shoulder, he’ll constantly reassure you that you are indeed doing well, and will always acknowledge what you’re going through as a serious matter by listening, understanding and caring. Ultimately, All of this will encourage you to take the first step into change.
5. Miracle questions in Solution Focused Therapy:
This unconventional technique was developed by a desperate suicidal woman who had an alcoholic husband and four “wild” children who gave her nothing but grief.
She was desperate for a solution, so she tried to picture the right ‘miracle’ needed to get her life together.
Now, since the development of this technique, the MQ (miracle question) has been tested numerous times in many different cultures and has been established as the first step toward your “goal setting”
The therapist will ask you to describe a small, realistic step you can perform by the next day.
For example: “Let’s say that tonight while you are asleep, a miracle happens and the problem that brought you here today disappears. When you wake up, what changes will you notice? What will others notice?”
Scaling Questions:
After that, the therapist will proceed to this simple technique to measure your progress, commitment, and confidence.
Scaling questions are mostly effective in therapy because they switch the conversation from being ‘about’ emotions to being ‘about’ numbers, which, in itself, can make you feel calmer.
It can be done in different ways and with clients of all certain age.
Here’s an example:
On a scale from one to ten (with ten being the most severe), how severe are your panic attacks? Then, ask yourself what it would be like for you to move down the scale just one single number.
Practitioners of SFBT may also utilize techniques such as journaling, guided imagery, and sensory awareness exercises.
Conclusion:
Bottom line is that solution focused brief therapy techniques have proven to be helpful in both counseling and therapy. Thanks to it, you can learn to focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t, which allows you to find solutions and make positive changes more quickly.
This is all for today. If you have any questions leave them down below!
And if you do wish to know more about subject then there’s this great book called “1001 Solution-Focused Questions: Handbook for Solution-Focused Interviewing (Norton Professional Book).
The examples and descriptions in it are easy to understand, as well as accessible to almost any reader. It also offers methods for the psychologist to improve this method. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in Solution Focused Brief Therapy (techniques) or is looking to increase his knowledge.