Guides

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, often abbreviated SFBT, was developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg starting in the 1980s. It takes a deliberately different starting point than many other therapeutic approaches: rather than beginning with an extended analysis of a problem's origins, it begins by identifying what a client wants their situation to look like, and works backward from there using resources the client already has.

The Core Idea Behind SFBT

SFBT rests on the premise that a client typically already has skills, strengths, and past successes relevant to their current concern, even when those resources are not immediately visible to the client themselves. Rather than spending significant session time exploring the detailed history and causes of a problem, SFBT moves relatively quickly toward identifying a concrete, achievable vision of change, and toward the specific steps that vision implies.

Key Techniques

• The miracle question. A client is asked to imagine that, overnight, the problem they came in with was resolved — and then asked what they would first notice that told them the change had happened. This question shifts focus from the problem itself to a concrete picture of what resolution actually looks like in practice.
• Scaling questions. A client rates where they currently stand on a scale, often 1 to 10, for a specific goal, then identifies what a small, one-point improvement would look like. This breaks an overwhelming goal into an immediately actionable next step.
• Exception-finding. Identifying times when the problem was less severe, or entirely absent, and examining what was different about those moments — since those exceptions often contain clues about what already works, even if the client has not consciously recognized it as a strategy.
• Strengths-based questioning. Actively drawing out a client's existing skills and past successes, rather than assuming those resources need to be built from nothing.

What "Brief" Actually Means

SFBT is typically shorter in course length than more exploratory therapeutic approaches, often unfolding over a smaller number of sessions, though the exact length still depends on the specific concern and client. This brevity is intentional, not a limitation — the approach is structured to move toward concrete change relatively efficiently, rather than requiring an extended process before meaningful movement occurs.

What SFBT Addresses

SFBT suits concerns with a relatively clear, definable goal — a specific behaviour change, a decision to work through, or a defined life transition — more than it suits concerns requiring deep, extended exploration of longstanding patterns. It is commonly used for situational stress, decision-making difficulty, and goal-oriented work during a life transition, where a client benefits from momentum and concrete next steps more than from extended historical analysis.

Who This Approach Tends to Fit

A client who wants a more directive, forward-moving process, and who has a relatively clear sense of what they want to change even if they are unsure how to get there, is often well matched to a solution-focused approach. A client whose concern involves more diffuse, longstanding patterns without a clearly defined goal sometimes benefits more from a different approach, or from SFBT combined with more exploratory work.