Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a pragmatic and competence-based approach that aims to help clients achieve their preferred future by focusing on their strengths and resources. It operates on the assumption that clients have the inner resources to construct effective solutions to their problems. SFBT is not problem-focused, but solution-focused.
Key tenets of SFBT include:
- Focus on Solutions, Not Problems: SFBT emphasizes constructing solutions rather than analysing problems. It directs attention away from what is not working and towards what the client wants to be different. Instead of focusing on the reduction of negative states, SFBT seeks to increase positive affect and create a better life.
- Future-Oriented Approach: SFBT is primarily concerned with the client’s desired future rather than the past. It uses techniques that invite clients to imagine their lives without the problem or with the problem not bothering them so much. SFBT works from the future back, inviting clients to think about what would have helped them recover and what their lives would look like if they achieved their goals.
- Client as Expert: SFBT views clients as experts in their own lives and encourages them to discover their own unique solutions. Therapists adopt a “not-knowing” stance and allow themselves to be informed by their clients. Clients are seen as co-experts and are invited to share their knowledge and expertise.
- Strengths and Resources: SFBT emphasizes clients’ strengths, competencies, and resources, rather than their past failings and problems. It seeks to identify and amplify exceptions (times when the problem could have occurred but didn’t), as they are seen as the keys to solutions.
- Small Changes Lead to Larger Changes: SFBT encourages clients to start with small, manageable steps toward their goals. These small changes build confidence and momentum, which can lead to more significant changes.
- Importance of Language: SFBT uses precise language as a tool to facilitate change. The questions therapists ask are carefully designed to invite clients to think differently and notice positive differences.
- Brief and Time-Limited: SFBT is designed to be a brief form of therapy, with the client determining when to end the sessions.
- Therapeutic Alliance: SFBT emphasizes a cooperative relationship between therapist and client. The alliance is focused on exceptions, goals, and solutions. The therapist’s role is to stay one step behind the client, inviting them to look at their preferred future, rather than acting as the expert in the room.
- Operant Conditioning: SFBT employs principles of operant conditioning by reinforcing solutions-talk and not reinforcing problem-talk.
In summary, SFBT is a collaborative approach that prioritises the client’s expertise, focuses on their preferred future, and amplifies their strengths and resources. It uses solution-focused language and the client’s own perception of what works to help them create a better future.