Exploring potential solutions, rather than focusing on problems, is the premise of solution-based therapy, a brief and actionable therapeutic approach to meeting challenges in life.
Many psychotherapy methods center on an in-depth exploration of the underlying causes of distressful thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
Not all of life’s challenges may require a deep level of introspection, however, and not everyone may be ready or willing to learn extensive details about why a problematic thought or behavior occurs.
If you’re primarily looking for actionable solutions to help you address current personal challenges, solution-focused therapy, better known as solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT), may be an option for you.
What is solution-focused brief therapy?
SFBT is a short-format type of psychotherapy , or “talk therapy,” that focuses on actively working toward identifying solutions, rather than exploring the cause of personal challenges.
Solution-focused therapy is based on the philosophy of post-modern constructivism, a social learning theory that suggests your reality is shaped by your experiences with the world around you. Applied to psychology, constructivism focuses on building empowerment by shifting your current thoughts and actions.
Guided by a mental health professional, SFBT helps you identify your strengths, opportunities, and resources and apply them to attainable goals. The overall aim is to achieve a positive future outcome or a specific solution.
SFBT isn’t about denying or ignoring the existence of personal challenges affecting your life. Instead, a therapist focuses on identifying solutions for current concerns, while acknowledging these challenges.
For example, if you experience anxiety stemming from past trauma , an SFBT therapist may help you develop coping strategies to manage the impact anxiety has on your daily life.
Some people may require one session to reach these solutions, while others may want to attend many sessions. On average, therapy may last between 5 and 8 sessions.
Core concepts, principles, and strategies of SFBT
Steve de Shazer, one of the founders of SFBT, originally described its core concepts in the following way:
- If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
- Once you know what works, do more of it.
- If it doesn’t work, don’t do it again; try something different.
The core concepts are expanded in the formal framework of SFBT to create more defined principles that guide the therapy.
SFBT principles include:
- focusing on what’s working in your life rather than what’s going wrong
- defining concrete, achievable goals for the future
- recognizing your strengths and learning how to apply them to future challenges
- assessing and learning from circumstances when a personal challenge was less severe
- understanding that small steps can lead to significant improvements
SFBT strategies
During SFBT, you collaborate with a therapist but you’re the expert of your life. Your insights drive the therapeutic process, and your therapist guides you using three main SFBT techniques.
Miracle question
The miracle question in SFBT asks you to envision a future if your current challenges are solved. The exercise helps you identify overall goals and shifts you from a problem-focused present to future-oriented thinking.
The first question a SFBT therapist asks is about the “miracle” itself, the sudden change in your life that would make everything better.
It may be phrased something like, “Imagine that tonight, while you’re sleeping, a miracle occurs. The challenge you’re currently facing is solved. On waking, how would you know the miracle had happened? What differences will you immediately notice in your life? What difference will others notice?”
Once you’ve explored this scenario, the therapist may ask follow-up questions to help build your vision of the ideal future in detail:
- What would be the first sign of the miracle?
- Who else would notice and why?
- What different activities would you do?
- Who would be more or less involved in your life?
- How would the miracle make you feel?
- What steps could you take to make this outcome possible?
The SFBT therapist uses the miracle question answer as the foundation for other techniques.
Scaling questions
Scaling questions follow the miracle question in SFBT. Their purpose is to gauge how you feel about your current position in relation to the goal you identified from the miracle question technique.
The therapist may ask the following questions:
- On a satisfaction scale of 0 to 10, where would you place yourself today?
- Using a scale of 0 to 10, how close are you to considering your challenge solved?
- How is your level of ______ (emotion) today, on a scale of 0 to 10?
- At the start of your sessions, you said you were a 4. Where are you today?
- What would an 8 look like to you? What would you have to do to move from a 6 to an 8?
- What happened when you moved from a 3 to a 4? Can it be replicated? What needs to happen for the next point?
In these questions, 0 represents the worst-case scenario, and 10 represents the best outcome possible.
Scaling questions provide you and the therapist with insight into what small, actionable steps might make a big difference in your life. Answering these questions may help you set goals and feel motivated to make specific changes.
Exception questions
Exception questions help you recognize times in life when your personal challenge wasn’t as severe or as significant. These questions help you explore which factors contributed to a reduction in negative feelings.
Examples of exception questions a therapist might ask include:
- When was the last time you were happy with your day? What made it different than other days?
- What were you doing when ______ was less severe?
- Who were you with? Why did you feel more at ease?
- Are there common factors that happen every time you have a successful day?
- What can you do to help create more successful moments?
Exception questions highlight factors you might be able to replicate, build on, or encourage to help you reach your goal.
Who is solution-focused brief therapy for?
SFBT is not designed for a specific mental health challenge. Instead, it’s a general approach to goal-setting and solution-creation that can be used for anyone wanting to focus on solving current challenges.
A 2022 systematic review including literature from 33 different countries found SFBT concepts were used successfully within a variety of intervention formats, including:
- psychotherapy
- coaching
- school and college counseling
- child protection
- community interventions and organizational interventions
Is SFBT backed by science?
SFBT is an evidence-based practice. Its effectiveness is supported by research in both clinical and scientific settings.
The 2022 review mentioned above concluded that SFBT interventions have demonstrated effectiveness across various practices and cultures.
A 2019 review found SFBT to be effective for addressing behavioral, emotional, and interpersonal concerns.
A study from 2018 found that SFBT helped decrease symptoms of depression and stress in people diagnosed with breast cancer .
Takeaway
SFBT is an evidence-based approach to identifying practical solutions for current personal challenges, rather than delving into their underlying causes.
You and a therapist work as a team to identify and build your ideal future through small, attainable goals and recognition of your personal strengths.
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