What is the Solution Focused approach?
Solution Focused was founded in the 1980s by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg. Who were therapists that were based in Milwaukee, USA. They produced a paper that outlined the beginning of a new and revolutionary way of working. These therapists drew on sources as divergent as Family Therapy, Hypnosis psychoanalysis and Buddhism.
Rather than trying to understand and fix problems solution focused brief therapy works by charting a way forward then seeking the resources needed to embark on the journey. Thousands of successful cases, many of which have involved client’s deemed as ‘untreatable’ have confirmed the belief that everyone has a potentially different future and that everyone has resources.
The essence of the approach is:
- To work with the person rather than the problem.
- To look for resources rather than deficits.
- To explore possible and preferred futures.
- To explore what is already contributing to those possible futures.
- To treat people as experts in all aspects of their lives.
The structure is as follows:
