Solutions-Focused Brief Therapy explained

Solutions-Focused Brief Therapy is a time-limited, goal-directed approach that concentrates on what the client wants to be different and on the resources and exceptions that can support movement in that direction. It has been researched across a range of adult presentations and is used in trauma-informed practice where a focused, present-oriented intervention is clinically indicated.

The approach rests on a small number of assumptions. Change is understood as constant rather than exceptional, so attention is directed to instances when the problem is absent, less intense or better managed. The client is treated as the expert on their own life and as the primary source of ideas about what will help. Small, specific changes are considered a legitimate and often powerful starting point.

Sessions are structured around clear conversational tools. Well-formed goal questions help the client describe what they want in observable, achievable terms. The miracle question invites a detailed description of life once the presenting difficulty is resolved, which often surfaces concrete first steps. Scaling questions place the current situation on a numerical scale and are used to explore what has already contributed to the current position and what a small movement upward would look like. Exception questions identify times when the problem has been less severe and examine what was different on those occasions.

Sessions are typically brief and focused, with the number of sessions determined by progress rather than by a fixed protocol. Between-session tasks are often small experiments — for example, noticing exceptions, doing more of what is already helping, or acting for a short period as if a preferred change has occurred.

In adult counselling for crime-related presentations, solutions-focused work is most often used to address specific goals such as returning to work, re-engaging with a particular relationship, improving sleep, or navigating a discrete decision. It is not a substitute for evidence-based trauma treatment where post-traumatic stress disorder is present, but it can be integrated with such treatment or used where a brief, targeted intervention is appropriate.

Telehealth delivery suits the model, which is conversational and does not depend on in-room materials.

If you have a Victims Services approval and want to explore whether solutions-focused brief therapy fits your current goals, submit an enquiry through the contact form.