Solution Focused Brief Therapy in London | Counselling & Psychotherapy

What is Solution Focused Brief Therapy?

Most approaches to therapy are focussed on analysing the issues, interpreting past events and tracking underlying problems. Instead, Solution-focused brief therapy concentrates on managing the solution, knowing the problem in the present, and exploring options with the hope of making things right. Unlike other therapies, this therapy is based on the present.

Solution Focused Therapy was developed by Steve dae Shazer (1940-2005), and Insoo Kim (1934-2007).

The developers of Solution Focused Brief Counselling spent hundreds of hours exploring and finding out the effect of sessions on the client and the role of the therapist in making the client better at once.

As the name suggests, Solution Focused Brief Therapy is goal-oriented, future-focused, and instant solution-based therapy.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy has become one of the leading therapies now, and it has a major influence on social policy, education, child welfare, domestic violence, business, criminal justice service, and much more. It is often described as a realistic goal-directed, clear, and concise approach.

The core idea of SFBT is that the clients do have the necessary amount of knowledge to make their life better with a bit of help. Though they need to clear a few things with a therapist every client has some minimal skills to find the solution.

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How does Solution Focused Brief Therapy work?

This therapy is largely based on constructive therapies. Constructivism means that people create and make their realities. No one can avoid the necessary change in life and since a person makes his reality, he can make it better as well.

The solution focused brief therapist is a well-trained conversation facilitator. In the therapy, the therapist behaves like he/she doesn’t know anything and retains the notion of ‘curiosity’ for knowing more. This therapy is focused on the clients’ expertise and knowledge. The therapist aims to explore the client’s strengths, desires, resources, and problem-solving abilities.

This therapy is not meant to continue for a year. So, in very few sessions, the main focus of the therapy is shifted from the problem to the solution. The main aim of Solution Focused Brief Psychotherapy is to produce solutions instantly and pick out the most preferred and simplest approach.

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What issues does Solution Focused Brief Psychotherapy help with?

Mainly, Solution Focused Brief Counselling can help everyone from an individual to a family. Because of its wider and simple approach, it proposed to induce the solutions for every sort of challenge, it can be related to one’s business, home, school, or even workplace. People from different backgrounds, cultures, and different issues are benefitting from this therapy.

It can be used to treat a wide variety of issues. It addresses the challenges for which the client has a complete understanding and a hint of a solution. The client is the expert in this therapy, so a client with basic insight is welcomed to this therapy. The clients develop their vision towards their issues and use their abilities to find the perfect solution.

Solution Focused Brief Psychotherapy is not preferred for clients with severe mental health disorders. However, if you have been noticing some behavioural issues in yourself at school or in your workplace, you can seek help from SFBT. Mostly, it is used in pairs with other therapies.

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What results can I expect from receiving Solution Focused Brief Counselling sessions?

If you have decided to step into the Solution Focused Brief Therapy, get ready to feel some big changes in yourself. Everything that you learn in these sessions will help you combat your issues in the future. Some of the outcomes of Solution Focused Brief Therapy are:

• Feeling empowered about everything that happens in life;
• Knowing that one can create a solution to any problem;
• Exploring different ways of making a solution;
• They believe that everything is going to be good;
• Feeling all confident and empowered.

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How many Solution Focused Brief Therapy Sessions do I need to see results?

The best thing about Solution Focused Brief Therapy is its shortness of time. The format on which the therapist works focuses on the resources that are already available, rather than making and exploring new ones. When you are using this approach for intervention, the therapy can take from one to several sessions. It all depends upon the circumstances and intensity of the issue. The client and the therapist decide this mutually.

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What interventions are mostly practised in Solution Focused Brief Psychotherapy?

The following interventions are used by the SFB therapist:

• Asking the best questions for inducing goal-oriented thoughts.
• Asking unusual questions to know to what extent the problem is bothering the client.
• Assessment of the problem’s intensity by the client as zero to 10 scale.
• Ask patients to deal with the same situation differently.
• Reinforce the client’s positive aspects such as strengths, abilities, intelligence, and small victories.
• Focus on the problem-solving attitude instead of the problem.
• Develop a plan to maintain what has been achieved in the therapy.

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What is unique to Solution Focused Brief Therapy?

While other therapies often focus on the past of clients, Solution Focused Brief Therapy doesn’t. It aims to be in present and solve the challenges immediately with a better and quicker solution.

The client is the expert here. The client is not taught about what to do and what to not. They are encouraged to manage out the solution on their own. In other traditional therapies, therapies guide the client to take certain steps to make positive changes.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy doesn’t take years to work. Mostly therapies take a lot of sessions to show some outcomes. Instead, Solution Focused Brief Counselling manages to make the impact in just a few sessions mostly three to five.

In the long term, Solution Focused Brief Psychotherapy has a better impact on the client. They understand how they can resolve any issue that might come in the future immediately.

SFBT is unique in its instant problem-solving way. Keeping the client’s situation in mind, SFBT is sometimes used with other therapies also. However, it is best known for making the client master of his own life.