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December 15 - December 25, 2016
If there is no problem, there should be no therapy.
If it works, do more of it.
do not judge the quality of a client’s solutions, only whether a solution is effective.
If it’s not working, do something different.
no matter how good a solution might seem, if it does not work it is not a solution.
Small steps can lead to big changes.
The solution is not necessarily directly related to the problem.
SFBT develops solutions by first eliciting a description of what will be different when the problem is resolved.
The language for solution development is different from that needed to describe a problem.
No problems happen all the time; there are always exceptions that can be utilized.
people always display exceptions to their problems, even small ones, and these exceptions can be utilized to make small changes.
What other models view as “resistance” is viewed in SFBT as (a) people’s natural protective mechanisms, or realistic desire to be cautious and go slow, or (b) a therapist error, i.e., an intervention that does not fit the client’s situation.
problems are best solved by focusing on what is already working, and how a client would like his or her life to be, rather than focusing on the past and the origin of problems.
It is rare for an SFBT therapist to make a suggestion or assignment that is not based on the client’s previous solutions or exceptions. It is always best if change ideas and assignments emanate from the client, at least indirectly during the conversation, rather than from the therapist, because the client is familiar with these behaviors.
Whenever possible, the therapist tries to elicit smaller goals rather than larger ones. More important, clients are encouraged to frame their goals as a solution, rather than the absence of a problem.
The miracle question is a way to ask for a client’s goal that communicates respect for the immensity of the problem, yet at the same time leads to the client coming up with smaller, more manageable goals.
The SFBT therapist spends most of the session listening attentively for signs of previous solutions, exceptions, and goals.
Now, I want to ask you a strange question. Suppose that while you are sleeping tonight and the entire house is quiet, a miracle happens. The miracle is that the problem which brought you here is solved. However, because you are sleeping, you don’t know that the miracle has happened. So, when you wake up tomorrow morning, what will be different that will tell you a miracle has happened and the problem which brought you here is solved?
if a client answers a question we didn’t ask, we know that this is the question we should have asked.
telling clients what to do is disrespectful and demeaning to their dignity.
