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What is SFBT?

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy or Solution-Focused therapy was first introduced in the late 1970s. It was developed by psychotherapists Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. This husband and wife duo and their colleagues wanted to create an advanced therapy type more inclined towards a solution-building approach. In the initial phases of the development, the idea was conceived and carried out from Berg's living room. Later, the people founded the Milwaukee Brief Family Therapy Center in the early 1980s.

Berg and de Shazer's dismay with the lack of results from the traditional method of orthodox psychoanalysis theories led them to form SFBT. They branched out from the conventional approaches to remove the general notion of focusing on the "Why," the reason behind a concern or a challenge and presented more prominence to the "How," the ways and strategies to treat the said concerns. This need for an alternative approach arose from the necessity to invest more in the resolution and less in the uprooting of past experiences. The observation of prior therapies and studies indicated that the resources spent on revisiting the past, like time and money, can sometimes overburden a patient. At the same time, the issue that brought them into therapy persists even after constantly reevaluating past experiences. Therefore, there needed to be a more precise and quicker alternative that allows patients to see changes in themselves.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy helps people grasp their condition and learn skills to manage their emotions better and cope with tribulation.

Additionally, it enables people to recognize their goals and the changes they want in life. It is possible that people already have an idea about the changes they need to implement in their lives, but they are unable to achieve them on their own. A solution-focused therapist can help people identify and develop skills to identify those changes. They motivate people to envision their goals and the future they aspire to live in. The person and the therapist work collectively to create a strategy to achieve the said goals.

Primarily the therapy type emphasizes the importance of the present moment and dealing with any issue rooted in the past that needs assessing. A therapist helps the person undergoing treatment identify the time when the particular concern was manageable and the factors that affected it positively. Doing so makes it easier to come up with a solution at present. Incorporating simple aspects that might have helped in dealing with a detrimental concern can be highly productive in dealing with the issues that brought the person into therapy.

SFBT practitioners aim to assist the individual in identifying their progress and recognizing what approaches and steps they find more beneficial. They also urge them to keep going over those strategies. The positive psychology of this therapy type is that it celebrates the success and part of the process—encouragement and motivation direct the individual on the right path.

Several studies and research advocate for the effectiveness of the therapy type and how its optimistic disposition lets mental health professionals better treat their patients. Additionally, the high functionality rate of this therapy is equally prominent worldwide in different cultures. It allows people to view mental health issues positively by focusing on the wellness journey.

What are the Benefits?

SFBT has been known for its success rate across different treatment plans, like individual, family, or couples therapy. Solution-focused therapy's primary goal lies in achieving goals and overcoming hardships by focusing on the present moment and celebrating progress. This therapeutic approach can be applied to various concerns. By enabling an individual to attain a problem-solving perception, it can help them with performance-based problems. For instance, this treatment can help children and students with difficulty in their studies or individuals experiencing distress in their workplace.

Professionals implement Solution-Focused Brief Therapy to treat a diversity of mental disorders. It relies on the person's ability to recognize their distress and enables them to develop skills and possible solutions. SFBT practices allow a person to develop viable solutions through conversation, collaboration, intervention, and celebrating improvements.

The straightforward idea behind this treatment approach is that the person seeking help is the "expert" on their issues. A professional helps the individual to assess their particular problems and urges them to envision the best-case scenario they desire. Imagining a better situation allows the person also to recognize the changes they should implement to achieve the said future goals. Because this therapy process focuses on a solution rather than the reasons affecting a concern, there is a possibility that the effectiveness can vary for different disorders or concerns.

Research also shows that this treatment can help individuals with behavioral problems and academic performance-related concerns. It can also tackle self-esteem issues and has a positively significant rate among family and couples therapy.

Additionally, the efficacy SFBT offers is equally promising as different forms of psychotherapy. Similar to cognitive behavioral therapy, it too can obtain behavioral changes. And the fact that it is a short-term therapy makes it more accessible.

Common Techniques

SFBT therapists use a particular set of questions throughout the therapy sessions to guide individuals to discover their positive traits and capability, followed by encouragement. Through a constant systematic review, it also becomes convenient for the individual to witness their progress. There are some forms of standard techniques and questions that professionals implement in sessions. Such as:

• SF Miracle Questions
• Exception Questions
• Coping Questions
• Scaling Questions

SF Miracle Questions:

Solution-Focused Miracle Questions are one the most significantly used techniques in SFBT. To practice the miracle question technique, your therapist will ask you to imagine a scenario where all your concerns miraculously disappear.

A standard miracle question can be as follows: "Imagine that a miracle happens tonight when you are asleep, and the entire house is quiet. And when you wake up tomorrow, the concern that got you to seek therapy (might be a trauma symptom, behavioral issue, etc.) has disappeared. So, what is that one thing that would make you realize that your issue is resolved? What change can you notice that might make you go, 'Oh! Something must have happened; my troubles are gone.'

This simple exercise allows the person to envision a positive outlook for their desired future. And the answer to miracle questions is the key to building strategies to take steps toward those goals.

Exception Question:

Exception questions are intervention techniques that let individuals recognize instances where their concerns are much more manageable. These questions aim to open up a conversation that gives an insight into an individual's competency. Conversations like those also let the professional assess and identify the client's strengths and what steps they should take to enhance those strengths further.

Exception Questions can look like this:

• "What was the time when you felt the happiest?"
• "Can you think of what made that day better?"
• "Can you remember when that problem didn't exist in your life?"

A therapist can encourage the person to develop solutions by analyzing what affected these exceptions.

Coping Question:

Coping questions intend to make individuals aware of their resilience, which can help them identify their coping techniques and how to amplify them positively. Most of the time, the person isn't even aware of their strengths and resources; coping questions offer the opportunity to let the person familiarize themself with their capability.

Some examples of coping questions are:

• "How do you manage to get up every morning despite facing such hardships?
• "How do you find the strength to go about your day when you feel hopeless?"
• "What do you do to stop things from getting worse?"
• "What has held you back?" (for patients dealing with suicidal behavior)
• "How have you been so brave to cope with such difficulty?"
• "How have you found the courage to deal with so much at such a young age?" (For child abuse/trauma patients)

After getting the answers to the coping questions, therapists tend to expand on the experiences drawn from those answers to dive deeper into the person's mindset.

Scaling Question:

Scaling questions is another intervention technique SF therapists use to enable their patients to witness their progress.

Typically, scaling questions refer to the case where a professional presents a scenario to a person and asks them to rank their emotions on a scale of 1 to 10.

For example, a therapist might ask an individual with an anxiety disorder to rate their discomfort. The question can look something like this:

• "How would you rate your feelings at this moment, where ten is the most anxious and one is the most at ease?" or,
• "How would you describe this day, ten being the most challenging and one being the most easygoing?"

Based on the client's answer, the therapist will follow up with another set of questions. For instance, if the person rates their day as a six, as an answer to the second question, the professional will ask them, "What makes this day feel like a six?" or "Why did you not rate this day any lower?"

There might be an instance that would have made the day manageable. Hence, scaling questions offer an overview of the person's situation and the external and internal factors affecting them.

What Conditions Can it Help Treat?

Typically, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy can be used as the sole treatment method or integrated with another form of therapy based on the situation and gravity of the patients. The holistic and optimistic nature of SFBT gives it a different approach to how people view treatments.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy is suitable for various mental and medical conditions. Additionally, its effectiveness is equally significant for patients of different ages, cultural backgrounds, and individual concerns. Professionals use SFBT to treat several issues, such as:

• Child behavioral concerns
• Domestic abuse
• Childhood trauma
• Problems resulting from a dysfunctional family
• Relationship issues
• Substance abuse disorder
• Self-esteem issues
• Eating disorders
• Work-related stress

Even though this therapy type cannot offer a permanent cure for severe disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder or psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, it can help individuals manage their symptoms better. The professionals maintain an encouraging and respectful attitude throughout SF therapy sessions toward their patients because the patient is the most knowledgeable person regarding their concerns. And practitioners believe they are equipped with the strength, insight, and resilience to bring the change they desire.

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Every individual is capable of change with proper guidance and encouragement. It is entirely possible to steer your life in the direction of your desired future. And finding the right therapist to effectively assist you in navigating through your hardships is the key.

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