The solution-focused brief therapy approach grew from the work of American social workers Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg, and their team at the Milwaukee Brief Family Therapy Center (BFTC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A private training and therapy institute, BFTC was started by dissatisfied former staff members from a Milwaukee agency who were interested in exploring brief therapy approaches then being developed at the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, CA. The solution-focused approach was developed inductively rather than deductively;[7][10] Berg, de Shazer and their team[11] spent thousands of hours carefully observing live and recorded therapy sessions. Any behaviors or words on the part of the therapist that reliably led to positive therapeutic change on the part of the clients were painstakingly noted and incorporated into the SFBT approach.[10] SFBT is what evolved from the Brief Therapy that was practiced at MRI.[7]
SFBT might be best defined by what it does not do[12] because SFBT presents an innovative and radically different approach from traditional psychotherapy.[12][8] Traditional psychotherapy looks at how problems happen, manifest, and resolve.[13][7] In most traditional psychotherapeutic approaches starting with Freud, practitioners assumed that it was necessary to make an extensive analysis of the history and cause of their clients' problems before attempting to develop any sort of solution. he problem-solving approach is influenced by the medical model, where the symptoms are assessed to diagnose and treat the malady. Outside of SFBT, the almost universal belief is that the clinician must define and understand the problem to help. To do this, the practitioner must develop some information about the nature of problems that they will help resolve and ask questions about the client's symptoms.[13] The more common problem-solving approach includes a description of the problem, an assessment of the problem, and plan and execute interventions to resolve or mitigate the impact of the problem. This is followed by an evaluation determining the success of the intervention and follow-up if necessary.[14]
Solution-focused therapists see the therapeutic change process radically differently.[15] SFBT posits that a therapist can help clients resolve their problems without identifying the details or source problem[8] and completely avoids exploring the details and context of the problem.[4] SFBT believes that an assessment of the problem is entirely unnecessary.[16] Focusing on the problem actually may serve to shift the client away from the solution. This is because SFBT fundamentally believes that the nature of the solution can be completely different from the problem. So instead, SFBT focuses on building solutions by conceptualizing a preferred future with clients. SFBT is all about finding alternatives to the problem, not identifying and eliminating the problem.[4]
SFBT is strengths-based[9][17] and supports clients' self-determination.[15] Using the client's language, SFBT uses the client's perspective[15] and fosters cooperation.[18] The focus on the strengths and resources of clients is a factor in why some social workers choose SFBT.[19]
SFBT is designed to help people change their lives in the fastest way possible.[8][20] By finding and amplifying exceptions, change is efficient and effective.[18] Treatment usually lasts less than six sessions,[21] and it can work in about two sessions.[22] Its brevity and its flexibility have made SFBT the choice of intervention for many health care settings. Interventions in a medical setting many times need to be brief.[23] Agencies also choose SFBT because its efficiency translates into monetary savings.[19]
