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Block 2 Unit 3 Solution Focused Therapy

1) What do you think about the idea that it is preferable to spend more time exploring solutions than understanding problems?

Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) prioritizes solution building over problem exploration, arguing that focusing on the client's desired future and existing strengths is more productive than dwelling on past problems or current conflicts. SFT posits that solutions are not necessarily directly related to the identified problem. This contrasts with traditional approaches that often emphasize exploring problematic feelings and cognitions.

• SFT therapists believe that focusing on what is healthy and functioning in a client’s life can be more helpful than focusing on sickness or damage.
• It is thought that change is constant, and initiating even a small change can have positive repercussions.
• By concentrating on the client's vision of a preferred future, therapists can help clients identify exceptions to the problem and amplify existing strengths and resources to move towards the desired outcome.
• SFT does not deny that problems exist but focuses more on how they can be resolved by utilizing the client's inner resources and skills.

2) Counselling should be as brief as possible so that people can get on with their lives. Discuss.

The idea that counselling should be as brief as possible is a key tenet of short-term psychotherapies, including SFT.

• SFT is explicitly a brief therapy that aims to help clients quickly construct solutions to their problems and emphasizes the future over the past or present.
• Time limits are a common feature of short term therapies, but they can be used in different ways, either to facilitate change or to minimise frustration. Some therapists view the time limit as a motivator for change, while others prefer a more flexible approach, offering follow-up appointments. Some therapists may see therapy as a catalyst for change, rather than as a ‘one-shot’ cure.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is also typically brief and time-limited, usually involving 5-30 sessions.
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is also considered a short-term therapy, usually involving 12-16 sessions.
• There is an argument that most therapeutic benefit occurs early in treatment.
• Brief therapies are seen as having intrinsic value and are effective in treating a range of difficulties, such as anxiety and depression.
• SFT does not typically use a fixed number of sessions, instead consulting with the client at the end of each session to determine if a further session is necessary.
• Some therapists believe that it is therapists, rather than clients, who have difficulty ending therapy.

3) Write about the treatment principles and interventions in SFT?

SFT's treatment principles include:

• Focusing on health and function: Emphasising that people have problems, rather than are problems and looking for what is healthy and working well in their lives.
• Small changes lead to bigger changes: Initiating even a small change can have repercussions and can help restore a person’s sense of control.
• Change is constant: Change is unavoidable, and initiating a change can have positive effects beyond the original starting point.
• If it’s working, keep doing it: Encouraging clients to continue behaviours that have been successful for them.
• If it’s not working, stop doing it: Encouraging clients to try something different to break a cycle of failure.
• Keep it simple: Avoiding complicating the therapeutic relationship with a search for hidden explanations or unconscious factors.

SFT interventions often include:

• Pre-session change: Asking clients to notice any changes that occur between making an appointment and the first session to build on client-initiated changes.
• Exception-seeking: Exploring times when the problem is not present or is being managed better to find transferable solutions.
• Identifying client resources: Recognizing and affirming the client's strengths and qualities to aid problem-solving.
• The miracle question: Asking clients to imagine what their life would be like if the problem disappeared to identify solutions and clarify goals. This future-oriented question aims to help the client describe in specific terms what their life will be like once the problem is resolved or better managed. The question follows a formula: "Imagine when you go to sleep one night, a miracle happens and the problems we’ve been talking about disappear. As you were asleep, you did not know that a miracle had happened. When you wake up what will be the first signs for you that a miracle has happened?"
• Reframing: Helping clients see the problem in a new way that increases the chances of resolution.

4) Answer the miracle question in relation to a problem area in your own life and share your observations with a colleague

The miracle question is a central intervention in SFT, typically used in the first session, but also potentially in later sessions, to help clients identify solutions, resources, and goals.

• The miracle question prompts the client to think beyond their current limitations and to envision what they would like in their life once the problem is solved.
• By having the client describe this ideal outcome, they can gain clarity about what they truly want and how this aligns with their current circumstances.
• The counselor would actively listen, prompt, empathize and ask therapeutic questions to help the client explore what will change when the miracle happens.
• This exploration can highlight conflicts between what the client wants and what others want for them.

Important Points

1) Solution-focused brief therapy is based on appreciating the client’s resources

2) Solution-focused techniques involve the ‘miracle’ question

3) Solution-focused brief therapy has been effective in the treatment of:

• drug and alcohol misuse

• agoraphobia

• adolescent behavioural problems

• eating disorders

4) Solution-focused authors include:

• de Shazer

• O’Hanlon

5) Scaling questions are used to explore:

• the patient’s achievements

• Goals of therapy.