What Is Solutions Focused Therapy

Does the idea of therapy turn you off because you think it'll all be dredging through the past? Would you prefer to look at where you are now and find a way to get from there to your dreams for the future? Do you want to focus on the solutions, not the problems?

Solutions-Focused Therapy, extensively researched by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in the late 1970’s, focuses not on problem solving, but in finding solutions to problems. This is a shift from traditional therapies that focus heavily on a person’s past experiences and feelings about them, to solely looking at the present and the future. In Solutions-Focused Therapy, the client establishes the goals he or she wishes to achieve and the therapist seeks to assist the client in considering multiple solutions until what is the right solution for this particular client in discovered.

The therapist assists the client in being less problem-centered and more open to new possibilities with a solution waiting right around the corner. The client is often encouraged to look for solutions from a strengths-based, instead of a defeat-based perspective, and to “write” a different life story that progresses to a new ending of the client’s choosing.

The value in Solutions-Focused Therapy is that it can often lead to effective solutions in a short amount of time, hence the alternate name for this therapy: Solutions-Focused Brief Therapy. This can be important for the client, but it can also be important in the world of managed care in which we live where many insurance companies restrict the number of therapy sessions—much work needs to be done in a short amount of time.

Another value is the collaborative relationship that is developed between client and therapist and the focus on What is Working rather than what is wrong.

At Stress Management Counseling Center, an eclectic approach utilizing Solutions-Focused Therapy, Reality Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is utilized in an individualized manner, tailored to each client’s particular needs.

In addition, we offer Personal Consultation services to individuals who are looking to develop goals and action plans to take that next big step to fulfillment, whether in their career or in relationships, and to help them live their BEST life!


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