Solution-Focused Therapy: Theoretic Approaches

Solution-Focused Therapy

Theoretical Approaches Individual Paper

Ceaja A Willson

The University of Arizona During the late nineteen-seventies into the early eighties, Insoo Kim Berg, Steve de Shazer and colleagues developed a new approach to therapy that would have a substantial impact on the practice forever. Solution-Focused therapy, which is also known as Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), is a solution-driven approach to therapy. It is a practice most prevalent among school counselors, however it is also used within business with managers and employees. Social Constructionist Philosophy that brings awareness to communication, organization, and how our needs are met as individuals heavily influences this form of therapy.

When the therapists present these questions to the client, this also allows for client insight. This insight pertains to what the client may already be doing in order to achieve their goals. In order to evaluate what would be the answer to a miracle question, scaling questions provide a more immediate answer to the client’s feelings, and optimism. In most cases the scale is measured from zero to ten, zero being the least and ten being the highest. Depending on the rating from the client might cause the therapist to ask questions that elicit feedback regarding support systems or outside factors that create barriers. Coping questions are important to the client’s understanding of his/her own ability to deal with their perceived problems. These types of questions also give the therapist insight to the client’s resources if he/she has access to such. Asking for insight into the clients coping techniques presents the idea that the client has already began to work towards a solution for their problem. They also begin to minimize the intensity of the perceived problem of the client in that he/she is able to some form of coping to fix their

An exception to a problem means that there is or was a time in which it did not occur, was less intense, or not as frequent. The therapist wants to engage the client in problem-free talk when he/she asks about the exceptions to their problems. Discussing the exceptions to the client’s problem also allows the client and therapist to point out solutions that may have worked in the past. Also, it provides an opportunity for the therapist to compliment the client on current achievements in eliminating their problems and achieving their