Solution Focused Therapy

Solution focused therapy (SFT) originated at the Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee (BFTC), Wisconsin. Evolving out of the early brief therapy contributions of Milton Erickson and the Mental Research Institute (MRI) the founders -Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg (and their staff) - departed from traditional psychotherapy by focusing on solution rather than problem construction, client resources rather than (perceived) psychopathology, and the present and future possibilities rather than the past failures. This radical departure liberated them from the typical burdens that face many therapists and their clients - Hopelessness, endless non-productive therapy sessions and pathologically debilitating labels that kill motivation and progress.

This shift in therapy consciousness was accomplished through a structured interview in which questions are designed to help the client create solutions from existing resources, successful life experiences, and co-construct (with the therapist) possibilities in the future. Rather than simply obtaining historical information for assessment purposes, the BFTC staff used the initial therapy interview session to begin to facilitate the client’s generation of achievable goals.

In addition to focusing on the client's goals, the solution focused therapy interview encourages the client to make detailed observations about the difference between problem and solution states. From the beginning of the first interview through the end of the last therapy session, questions focus on encouraging clients observing the essential differences their actions and thoughts make in breaking down the barrier between problem and solution. This results in creating vital links in a virtual “chain of difference” that lead clients and therapists to co-construct workable solutions. It is the recognition of this “news of the difference” that enables both clients and their therapists to move beyond the limitations of the problem while illuminating a more hopeful future.

Adapting solution focused therapy protocols, Recrafting a Life: Solutions for Chronic Pain and Illness,presents three (interrelated) methods that effectively facilitate the process of addressing the challenges that arise from chronic conditions.The first utilizes a structured solution focused interview to elicit, amplify, and reinforce the resources the patient is already employing to improve her condition. The second, the Solution Identification Scale for Health (SISH)™, is an instrument (completed outside the therapy session) that builds solutions from current and future possibilities not immediately apparent to the patient and therapist. Finally Recrafting a Life offers a number of “experimental” tasks that significantly supplement the solution-building process from the first interview through (and after) the conclusion of the therapy process.

For more about solution focused therapy and chronic pain and chronic conditions check our web pages on our approach and our workshops. And, of course, check out Recrafting a Life: Solutions for chronic pain and illness!

Or, for information about differences and similarities to Ericksonian approaches