Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) 101

Most therapies see clients as coming into therapy with problems seeking help;
solution-focused therapists see clients as coming in with solutions seeking expression.
(John E. Perkins, III , 1999 )

History

Solution Focused Brief Therapy is one of a family of approaches, known as systems therapies, that
have been developed over the past 50 years or so, first in the USA, and eventually evolving around
the world, including Europe.

The title SFBT, and the specific steps involved in its practice, are attributed to husband and wife
Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg and their team at the Brief Family Therapy Center in
Milwaukee, USA. Their work in the early 1980s built on that of a number of other innovators, among
them Milton Erickson, and the group at the Mental Research Institute.

Key Assumptions

1 The client has skills, strengths and resources

2 The therapist is not the expert on the client, the client is. The client defines the goal.

3 There are always exceptions (to the problem) to be found.

4 You do not need to know all about the problem to look for solutions.

5 If it works, do more of it. If it doesnt work, do something different.

6 Small changes pave the way for larger changes

7 When therapists find ways to cooperate with clients, resistance does not occur.

Key Questions/Techniques

SFBT makes questions the primary tool of communication and rarely makes direct challenges or
confrontations to a client. However, questions are used as both the primary communication method
and as intervention.

1 Miracle question.

Suppose that one night, while you were asleep, there was a miracle and this problem was
solved. How would you know? What would be different?
This type of question seems to make a problem-free future more real and therefore more
likely to occur.

2 Exception-finding question.

Asks the client to focus on times when problem does not occur or has not occurred when they
expected it would. They may discover solutions they had forgotten or not noticed. The
therapist might find clues on which to build future solutions.


3 Coping question
How come things arent worse? What have you done to keep them from being worse?
If the client still does not answer with exceptions or positives ask:
Do you think things can get worse? What will that be like for you? For others?
What is the smallest thing you can imagine will make a difference?

4 Scaling question.
Usually asked to help client get a better perspective about how severe a problem is.
This question is also asked to track progress from session to session.
Examples:
On a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being totally unacceptable and 10 as good as you can
imagine, where would you put your relationship at this point?
On a scale from 0 to 100, with 0 being never and 100 being always, what percentage of the
time would you say you feel those anxious feelings that make you afraid to leave the house?


Bibliography

Recent books

Lipchik, E. , 2002. Beyond Technique in Solution-Focused Therapy:
Working With Emotions and the Therapeutic Relationship. New York, Guilford Press.

Guterman, J.T., 2006. Mastering the art of solution-focused counseling.
Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.