Everyone has his or her past. Rather than thinking about the past, a person should think about his or her present and future. Solutions counseling, also known as solution focused brief therapy (SFBT), is a type of counseling designed in such a way that it is to keep the conversation about the present or the future, rather than the past. The sessions are about what is happening now and how to find the right approach to solve the problem; rather than thinking about the past. This therapy is a kind of goal-oriented therapy in which the issues or symptoms bringing a person to therapy are not of concern. The therapist encourages her or her clients to develop a detailed, clear vision of the future. The therapist also offers motivating support as the client determines the skills, resources, and abilities needed to successfully achieve that vision.
As mental health therapists noticed that amount of time, energy, money, and other resources tended to be spent through therapeutic approaches, while often observing that the issues that initially brought an individual to therapy continued to affect them negatively. It brings the need for an alternative approach to the therapy.
Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) aims to develop realistic solutions as quickly and efficiently as possible. Rather than keeping people in the therapy for a long time.
You Can Find Your Answers
In Solution focused brief therapy, a person is responsible for finding his own answers. You might think that if a person finds his own answers and solutions, then what is the need for the therapy. The foundational belief in SFBT is that clients already have the required skills to create change in their lives. The clients may get benefit from the involvement of a counselor. The counselor helps the client to identify and develop those skills. SFBT also recognizes that people on some level already know what changes they need in their lives. The therapists help the clients to give the clarity of their goals. Therapy makes a difference in the lives of the clients.
The counselor asks questions that make the clients realize that they have already solved similar problems in the past. This therapeutic intervention enhances the internal abilities of an individual to attain the desired outcomes. Therapists guide their clients through the process of recognizing what is working for them. It also helps them to continue implementing effective strategies and encourage them to recognize and celebrate their success. SFBT practitioners also support their clients as they experiment with new problem-solving approaches.
Solve Problems Quicker
SFBT sessions help people to solve problems quickly. Within a few sessions, people understand how to solve the issues that brought them into therapy. Since there is no need to address the past, many sessions spent finding the root cause of the problems are not required. This reduces the number of sessions.
Therapist Remains Positive And Friendly
Compliments are another essential that is unique from other therapeutic approaches is a part of SFBT. In the SFBT sessions, the therapists compliment the clients when they come up with better solutions. They also encourage the clients to follow their own advice and focus on their capabilities and strengths. They do not ask questions that make you feel uncomfortable. Instead, the counselors make you feel stronger, better, and more in charge of your own life. Once the positive environment is created, the SFBT therapists discover some solutions and exceptions to the client’s problem. They motivate the client to do the things that have previously worked for them. The counselor also invites the client to implement the changes brought up and which they would like to try. This part of therapy is referred to as ‘an experiment.’
Questions Used In SFBT
In Solution focused brief therapy, the therapists ask very specific and intentional questions to guide the session. Coping questions help to demonstrate one’s resiliency and the number of ways in which the person is already capable of coping with challenges in life. For example, they put questions like ‘In such difficulty, how do you manage to meet your daily commitments and responsibilities?’ This question illuminates one’s skill in coping with adversity.
Miracle questions help people to envision a future where the problem is not present. This kind of question allows people to explain how their lives would look different if the problem did not exist. It can help the clients identify small steps they can take towards change in the new reality direction. Imagining a scenario where the present problem does not exist can remind the person that behavioral changes are possible. It helps them to imagine what they can do to create changes in their lives.
Scaling questions asks the person to rate their goals, priorities, motivation for change, success, problems, satisfaction, treatment progress, and hope on a numerical scale from 0 – 10. People who face difficulty in explaining their concerns and experiences may find this approach helpful.
Who Can Be Helped Through SFBT?
Solution focused brief therapy can be used successfully in individual therapy with families and couples. It can be used to treat many varieties of issues. Even it is used to address challenges for which the client already has possible solutions.
Alternatives To Solution Counseling
SFBT works well for many people; there may be scenarios in which it is used along with other types of counseling. If a person suffered trauma and cannot come out from the past, SBFT does not allow you to do that. One concern with SFBT, it is goal-oriented and quick. It may not allow counselors the necessary time to empathize with what clients are facing and experiencing.
Another concern is the way SFBT seems to altogether avoid or ignore important information by other treatment modalities. In SFBT, the issues the client’s faces and the changes for necessary improvement are not assumed, and any underlying reasons for maladaptive behaviors are not explored. People who want to explore these reasons may seek a different type of therapy that includes addressing such concerns, though they can do it simultaneously with SFBT.
Solution Therapy can help you put your past behind and move on to the present and future.
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