Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

A solution-focused conversation is a collaborative process. It is important to set the right tone, and to encourage equal participation. One of the hallmarks of solution-focused conversations is the relaxed, conversational style that practitioners adopt.

We all tend to see our problems from our own unique perspective. Clients can be helped enormously when we start to open up the possibility that there may be other ways of seeing things.

To reframe is to offer a new interpretation or viewpoint for an experience. It has the effect of challenging and introducing doubt into old, unproductive beliefs. By offering a reframe you demonstrate that you see the client’s situation and ideas as something other than fixed, rigid conditions.

When listening to a client's narrative about their problem or concern, it is easy to get swept up, just as they do, in the belief that the difficulty they are facing is ever-present and unmoving. In solution-focused conversations, however, the practitioner is listening for something more than information which simply confirms the client's beliefs about their problem. Listening for exceptions means being alert for 'problem-free' times.

In a world that tends to deal in polar opposites and ‘either-or’ thinking, it is useful to remember that few aspects of our lives are either totally one thing or completely another.

Scaling introduces the notion of increments or degrees into a conversation, and it has practical applications which go far beyond the simplicity of the idea.

The Miracle Question is one of the most powerful interventions there can be when used properly, yet it's possibly one of the most misunderstood aspects of SFBT. 

The idea is to invite the client to step into a future that is problem free. In effect, this a mini-visualisation process – the client ‘goes somewhere else’ – and in order to respond, they must immerse themselves in their imagination.

Goal setting in SFBT is the keystone of the approach. Many of us are familiar with the concept of setting goals - if not in our daily lives, then certainly in our professional activities. Most of us can also vividly recall a time when we failed. Solution-focused goals have to be designed with precision, and by the client. It is not in the nature of the approach to choose or impose their goals for them.

Summarising is a good rapport-builder and it tends to encourage openness and a free-flowing conversation. It also plays an important role in solution-focused conversations as it provides as an opportunity for you to normalise, reframe and even anticipate a positive outcome.

We have provided a series of practical exercises to enable you to practice the various skills described in this course.

These exercises will help you with the process of adapting to thinking in a solution-focused way. They work best when you DO them, rather than thinking about them or trying to understand them.

Concentrating on the action and observing the results, thoughts and any other questions they provoke also prevents you from becoming overly analytical (and slipping into a 'that-wonʼt-work-because' frame of mind, for example).

They can also be given to clients as tasks to continue with their own development following the conversation (but don't overload them - just try one exercise at a time). The client themselves must also be willing to try this. They should not be imposed.

You should try these exercises for yourself to get a sense of how they feel and work. You may then find that you can then use them with clients, though they should not be used indiscriminately as a one-size-fits-all tactic.

Taken one step at a time, the ideas quickly become more familiar and integrated into a working repertoire.

There is also a list of SFBT books for suggested reading, and references. Finally, we have also included brief guide How to Avoid Getting Stumped, on what to do to avoid a conversation getting 'stuck'.

Deena is a single mum who doesn't much like the idea of asking for help. At the start of the session she is a little tense, but she quickly settles into the conversation. See how, in under five minutes, the practitioner builds rapport and starts to establish trust. 

Watch out for:

• Normalising
• Rapport building
• 'What brings you here'
• Summarising and checking understanding.

What triggered Deena to ask for help? Watch how her fears are supportively summarised and reframed. At the close of this clip, Deena explains what she needs from the session.

Watch out for: 

• Reaffirming the client's identity
• Reframing the 'problem'
• Normalising
• Attempts to elicit a goal.

Watch how, conversationally, the process of SFBT is explained. Reaffirming expectations and pre-supposing success, the practitioner explains how they will work collaboratively on identifying resources and building on strengths.

Watch out for:

• Reaffirming
• Complimenting
• Normalising
• Setting expectations
• Spontaneous humour.

So far, no clear goals have been established. Clients often need help clarifying their aims.

Watch out for:

• Clarifying goals
• Resources
• Reframing
• Normalising
• Reaffirming positive identity
• Strength-building.

As Deena explains possible sources of help and support, she is also revealing something about the decisions she is making in the interests of her children. This provides an opportunity for the practitioner to identify and reaffirm her decision-making strengths.

Note how Deena's demeanour and engagement have changed since the first clip, 10 minutes earlier in the session.

• Scaling
• Normalising
• Highlighting success
• Spontaneous humour
• Summarising.

The summary at the start of this brief clip enables the practitioner to reframe Deena's situation and her expectations of herself. This, in turn, offers Deena another image of herself, which she seems to accept.

Continuing the theme of Deena's strengths as a mother, and the sensible choices she has made, the practitioner enquires about what 'help' means to her, simultaneously reframing it as an exchange of favours.

• Reframing
• Normalising
• Creating positive expectation.

In this part of the session Deena really seems to 'get' the idea of scaling in relation to stress. The practitioner then builds on this new understanding to reduce her original worry about how 'losing the plot' signals that she is an unfit mother.

Having normalised some of Deena's worries about her behaviour as stress ("The fact that this is normal doesn't mean don't do something about it"), the next step is to discuss how Deena might relieve the pressure by asking for help (framed as 'an exchange of favours').

The use of scaling allows the practitioner to link positive times with the kids ("60% of the time") to choices, rather than chance. Having explained the stress cycle, the next step is to check with Deena that it fits with her experience. The conversation then turns to her trigger points.

• Scaling
• Exceptions
• Explaining (and normalising) the stress cycle
• Practical application of scaling as a life skill
• Developing a strategy for stress.

Deena is positive about how the session has helped her. She is clearer on a number of points, and is starting to plan. The practitioner summarises the main steps she could consider.

There is one final point that needs to be covered, and that is how can Deena give herself the best chance of integrating the learnings from the session into her daily life.

• Anticipating positive change
• Positive affirmations
• Summarising
• Applying the ideas in life.