Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a practical, goal-oriented counselling approach that focuses on identifying solutions rather than analysing problems. It helps clients envision their preferred future and discover the resources and strengths they already possess to make it happen.

SFBT is built on three key principles that guide both the therapist and the client throughout the process.

The therapist focuses on what truly matters to the client. Conversations revolve around the client’s best hopes and desired outcomes. The therapist avoids imposing their own perceptions or judgments and instead keeps the focus on what helps the client move forward.

When the client identifies strategies or behaviours that are producing positive results, the therapist encourages them to continue using those approaches. The same principle applies to the therapist, who continues using techniques that have been effective in previous sessions.

When a certain approach or strategy does not bring progress, both the therapist and the client explore alternative solutions. The focus remains on trying something new that may bring the client closer to their goals. The emphasis is always on what works.

The client and therapist collaboratively generate creative solutions without judgment. Both list all possible ideas on paper and the client selects the best one to experiment with for a specific period of time. If the first solution does not work, the client moves to the next and continues exploring until a suitable one is found. This process encourages creativity, ownership and action.

This technique helps clients recognise their own strengths, skills and coping mechanisms. The therapist guides the conversation toward moments of success, asking questions such as:

• “How did you manage that situation?”
• “What did you notice about yourself that showed you were succe

These discussions highlight the client’s resilience, build confidence and reinforce the belief that they already possess the tools needed for change.

An exception refers to a time when a problem could have occurred but did not. Clients are encouraged to identify times when things went well or when they successfully managed a situation that normally causes difficulty.

By exploring exceptions, clients can uncover what they did differently, even if unintentionally and build on those strategies. If the client cannot recall a previous solution, the therapist uses exception questions to help discover one.

The preferred future represents the point where the client’s best hopes and desired outcomes become reality. Building a vivid and realistic picture of that future helps clients visualise success and recognise the changes needed to achieve it.

Clients are encouraged to describe in detail what their life would look like when things are better. The description includes what they would be doing, thinking and feeling, as well as what others around them, such as family, friends, colleagues or even pets would notice about them.

The focus is on the presence of positive elements, not merely the absence of problems. The more detailed the vision, the clearer the path toward achieving it becomes.