Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Question 1

The Process of the Solution Focused Group

Answer 1

(1) Find out what the clients wants rather than searching for what they do not want.
(2) Do not look for diagnosis and do not attempt to reduce clients by giving them a diagnostic label.
Instead, look for what clients are doing that is already working and encourage them to continue in that direction.
(3) If what clients are doing is not working, encourage them to experiment with doing something different
(4) Keep therapy brief by approaching each session as if it were the last and only session.

Question 2

Solution Focused Brief Therapy in Groups

Answer 2

• A future-focused, goal-oriented therapeutic approach.
• Shifts the focus from problem solving to a complete focus on solutions.
• Therapists engage in conversations with their clients about what is going well, future possibilities, and what will likely lead to a sense of accomplishment.
• Differs from traditional therapies by shunning the past in favor of both the present and the future.
• Clients choose the goals they wish to accomplish: Little attention is given to diagnosis, history taking, analysis of dysfunctional interactions, or exploration of the problem.
• Therapists assist clients in paying attention to the exceptions to their problem patterns.
• Focuses on finding out what people are doing that is working and then helps them in applying this knowledge to eliminate problems in the shortest amount of time possible.
• A key concept is, “Once you know what works, do more of it.”
• There are exceptions to every problem.
• Clients often present only one side of themselves.
• Small changes pave the way for larger changes.

Question 3

Role and Functions of the Group Leader

Answer 3

• Much of what the therapeutic process is about involves clients’ thinking about their future and what they want to be different in their lives.
• Group counselors adopt a “not-knowing” position as a route to putting group members into the position of being the experts about their own lives.
• The therapist-as-expert is replaced by the client-as-expert, especially when it comes to what he or she wants in life.
• Group leaders tend to view themselves as tour guides, as co-discovers, or as co-constructors of solutions, rather than as expert leaders.
• Group counselor’s shift the responsibility toward group members to notice exceptions about each other.
• The aim is to enter a client’s world as fully as possible and to elicit the perspectives, resources, and unique experiences of the client.
• Empathy and the collaborative partnership in the therapeutic process are seen as more important than an assessment or technique.
• Therapists tend to avoid using language that embodies diagnosis, assessment, and intervention.
• Instead, focus on the way problems and solutions are talked

Question 4

Therapeutic Techniques & Procedures

Answer 4

(use sparingly)

• Exception questions, scaling questions, and the miracle question.
• Pre-therapy change addresses any changes made before the initial session. Simply scheduling an appointment often sets positive change in motion.
• Questions become the primary communication tool and main intervention.
• Leaders use questions as a way to generate experience rather than gather information.
• Questions are asked from a position of respect, genuine curiosity, sincere interest, and openness.