Solution Focused Brief Therapy

I utilize solution focused therapy for practical application, because I believe change happens when we are trying things outside of the therapy room. When you learn practical skills and tools, you will be able to leave therapy with a greater confidence and mastery that will last the rest of your life.

A common complaint about therapy is it's seemingly never ending emphasis on all that we are doing wrong. Enter Solution Focused Brief Therapy: an approach that focuses on all that you are doing right. SFBT helps patients identify and strengthen effective ways they are already coping, instead of trying to "fix" what is "wrong" about their lives. I have found this treatment orientation incredibly effective in my practice, and was lucky enough to train with a leading SFBT expert in the field.

A common complaint about therapy is its seemingly never ending emphasis on all that we are doing wrong. Enter Solution Focused Brief Therapy: an approach that focuses on all that you are doing right. SFBT helps patients identify and strengthen effective ways they are already coping, instead of trying to "fix" what is "wrong" about their lives. My patients have found SFBT incredibly effective, and I was lucky enough to train with a leading SFBT expert in the field.

I believe that basing therapy on your personal experience is the most empowering and effective approach to create lasting change. I will recognize and highlight your innate strengths and help you build skills and tools that work best for you. Focusing on practical needs real results is always a priority in my practice.

Therapy is often for a reason, season, or lifetime. If you fall within the reason or season, SFBT might be for you. By developing clear goals and the tools necessary to achieve them you will tackle challenges and move into achievement.

A basic tenant of SFBT is figuring out what works and doing more of it. It utilizes optimism, logic facts and actions to help us navigate through challenges. SFBT emphasizes that people already possess the resources they need to change; we just need to get back in contact with them.

Together, we will explore potential solutions to your problems. All potential solutions that I discuss with you will be evidenced based. This means that various scientific studies on the “solution” have taken place making it scientifically proven to work for most people. If whatever we come up with doesn’t work for you, we’ll discuss other potential evidence based solutions so that you have an array of coping skills you can use to deal with life’s stressors.

In SFBT, we work backwards. Instead of focusing on how to "fix a problem", we focus on answering "what is the end goal?" and learning from our past success to tell us how to get there. We start by asking questions like, "what do you want your life to look like?", "what would need to be different between now and then?". You work with your therapist to create your own path forward, focused on where you want to go versus why it will be impossible for you to get there.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a short-term goal-focused evidence-based therapeutic approach, which incorporates positive psychology principles and practices, and which helps clients change by constructing solutions rather than focusing on problems.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy or SFBT focuses on finding solutions in the present time and exploring an individual's hope for the future to find quicker resolution to their problems. This method takes the approach that you know what you need to do to improve your own life and, with the appropriate counseling and questioning, you are capable of finding the best solutions for your future.

A basic tenant of SFBT is figuring out what works and doing more of it. It utilizes optimism, logic facts and actions to help us navigate through challenges. SFBT emphasizes that people already possess the resources they need to change; we just need to get back in contact with them.

I have been practicing this technique since 2010 and continue to attend ongoing trainings regarding this approach to ensure my skills remain sharp and effective.