Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) places focus on a person's present and future circumstances and goals rather than past experiences. In this goal-oriented therapy, the symptoms or issues bringing a person to therapy are typically not targeted. On average, solution focused brief therapy lasts for about 45 minutes and consists of around five sessions. However, if an individual is need of more support, further sessions and other techniques can be introduced. Although, one brief therapy session is typically needed. Key concepts of solution focused therapy entail a humanistic approach. This approach focuses on self-development, growth and responsibility.  Individuals from different cultures, backgrounds, and age groups have shown to all benefits from this type of therapy. Brief Therapy can help in the following areas:

Marital problems

A brief therapy session may be beneficial for those undergoing marital problems. By creating small communication goals, you can save your marriage, find better ways to communicate and ultimately have a healthier and happier marriage.

Workplace

With solution focused therapy, you can find solutions to help you climb the corporate ladder or find the job of your dreams.

School

Brief therapy sessions can help students who are having troubles balancing their studies with the rest of their lives.

Business

Do you not know how to keep your business going, or even how to start it? With a solution focused therapy session, you will be able to set small goals, create a clearer vision for yourself, or business, or get support in resolving ongoing business-related issues.

Depression

Combined with medication if necessary, solution focused brief therapy can help you find solutions to carry on with your life despite the weight of the world bringing you down.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy is most suitable for those that would like to focus on present and future circumstances rather than the past. This form of therapy is most effective for persons that need to reach a resolution and reach a desired goal. The key concept is to implement immediate improvement and consists of techniques such as:

Goal Setting

Goal setting is the process of identifying something that you want to accomplish and establish measurable goals and time frames.

Sharpening & Defining Goals

Not only can solution focused therapy help you establish time frames for your goals but clarify and apply motivational strategies to support goal achievement. You could explore social aspects of achieving your goals through networking and social media, explain how time management plays a factor in short, mid or long-term objectives, and brainstorm factors that might hinder goal achievement to find possible ways to address these issues. An example in defining measurable short-term goals, would be, what is one thing you can do right now? This will assist the client to focus on what’s currently attainable and help them move one step closer to their long-term objective.

Therapy Homework

This approach is an important aspect of brief therapy because it gives you manageable and practical tasks to take home with you. These tasks may challenge the client but are also still realistic and is an essential way to reach a desired outcome. Of course, all tasks may not be completed, and if it is not, the reason can be determined in the next session and broken down into a more manageable task for the next assignment. Whatever the tasks are, you can be sure that it is indeed implemented to help you obtain the most preferred result.

Achieving Goals

Being guided to set and define goals through solution focused therapy ultimately sets you up to achieve those desired goals. Whether that’s to jump start your business, resolve a marital problem, improve your grades at school, or get a promotion at work; a session may be just what you need to get there. Book an appointment with us today to see how we can help.

Positive Reinforcement

Compliments, or encouraging questions towards the client is a way to reinforce one’s confidence and ensure the individual that they are on the correct path to reaching success.

Future Focused

This is in which the therapist may ask you what can be done next week or in the near future to get closer to resolving their problem.

Recognizing Previous Solutions

At some point, everyone has had the opportunity to solve their own problems before. Brief therapy helps to recognize previous ways in which the client has resolved their problem before in order to apply that action or method to their most recent challenges.

Finding Out When There Isn’t A Problem

Many times, you may find that in life there is a problem that should have occurred, but actually did not take place. The key here is to distinguish the difference between then and now and if there is an actual exception to the previous situation that can be applied to your current situation.