Brief solution focus therapy (BSFT) is a brief counseling approach developed in the 1980s. It is influenced by Milton Erickson's brief therapy approach from the 1940s. BSFT focuses on a client's strengths and resources rather than pathology. The counselor acts as a facilitator to help clients access their own inner strengths and solutions. Sessions are typically limited to 5-8 sessions of 45 minutes each. Key techniques include the miracle question, scaling questions, compliments, and exploring internal and external resources. The goal is to help clients notice exceptions to problems and focus on present and future solutions rather than dwelling on the past or causes of problems.

1. Brief solution Focus Therapy
(BSFT)
By: Muhammad Musawar Ali
MPHIL, ICAP
Psychmmusawarali@gmail.com1

2. Brief Counseling Approaches
 Brief in regard to treatment.
 Important in an age where people and institutions are demanding quick and
effective mental health service.
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3. Skills Employed in brief Approaches
 Promote Health services.
 Do more in Less time.
 Manage care setting.
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4. Brief Counseling Approaches are
Characterized by
 Foci (center of interest)
 Time limited Emphasis.
 Most of Brief counseling are not systematic in nature.
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5. BRIEF COUNSELING ARE:
Concrete and
Goal oriented
Counselor active
role in bringing
change and to
motivate the client
Identifying
solutions,
resources, rather
than pathology
and dysfunction
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6. BRIEF SOLUTION FOCUS THERAPY
 1980s by Steve de Shazer & Insoo Kim Berg.
 Influenced by Milton Erickson ( Creator of Brief therapy 1940)
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7. View Of Human Nature
 Focus on client Strength and health. (Fernando, 2007).
 Its roots are linked with Erickson idea that “ People have within themselves the
resources & abilities to solve their own problems even if they don’t have casual
understanding of them”.
 Erickson also believed that a small change in ones behavior is often all that is
necessary to lead to more profound changes in a problem context.(Lawson, 1994,
p, 244).
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8. ERICKSON HERITAGE
 Solution focus brief therapy sees people as being constructivists in nature means
that reality is the reflection of observation and experience.
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Solution Focus Brief Therapy
Assumption
People Really
want to
Change
Change cant
be avoided

9. Role of Counselor
 Counselor Role is to determine how active and committed a client is to the process
of change.
 Counselor also act as facilitator of change to help clients access the resources and
strength they have but they are not aware of or are not utilizing it.
 They encourage challenge and setup expectations for change.
 They do not blame or ask why. They are not particular interested in how a problem
arose.
 Rather they are concerned with the client to arrive at a solution to the problem.
 They allow the client to be expert of his/her life.
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10. Clients Fall into 3 categories10
Visitors
 Who are not involved in problem
 and are not a part of solution.

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Complaints
 Who complain about situations but can be
observant and describe problems
 even if they are not invested in resolving them.

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Customers
 Who are not only able to describe problems and
how they are involved in them
 but are willing to work on finding solution.

13. Goals
 To help the client tap inner resources and to notice exceptions to the time when
they are distressed.
 The goal is then directed toward the solution to situations that already exists in
these expectations.
 Focus on sessions and homework is on positive and possibilities either now or
future.
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14. Ask questions about. . .
 Client's story
 Client's strengths
 Client's resources
 Client's exceptions
 Relationships
 Self-esteem issues
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15. How Brief a Therapy?
 Aim for 5 sessions
 45 mins each session
 Rarely beyond 8 sessions
 Sometimes 1 session enough
 Any improvements after 3 sessions?
 Increase gap between sessions as time goes on
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16. Techniques
 Collaborative process between counselor and client.
 Encouraging the client to examine where is problem.
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17. Miracle Question
 Which basically focus on hypothetical situation where a problem has appeared.
 i.e.: Lets suppose tonight while you are sleeping a miracle happened that solved all
the problems that brought you here.
 How the future may be
 Helps establish goals
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18. Scaling
 When the client is asked to use scale from 1- 10 to evaluate how severe a problem
is.
 Scaling help the client to understand both when they are in regard to a problem
 when they need to move in order to realistically achieve their goals.
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19. Complements
 Written messages designed to praise clients for their strength and build a yes set
within them.
 Beliefs that can resolve difficulties.
 Compliments are usually given right before clients are given tasks or assignments.
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20. Internal Resources
 Help clients attend to their resources, skills and abilities
 Empowers client in identifying their own strengths
 Skills
 Strengths
 Qualities
 Beliefs
 Capacity
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21. External Resources
 Supportive relationships
 Friends
 Partners
 Faith
 Workplace
 Unions
 Social services
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22. Two Final techniques
 Clues: which are intended to alert the client to the idea that some behaviors they
are doing are likely to continuous and they should not worry about them.
 Skeleton keys: which are procedures that have universal application in regard to
unlocking a variety of problems.
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23. Self-change Model
 Pre-contemplation:
 The client does not recognize that they have a difficulty and will blame others:
“it’s your problem not mine.”
 People may be in this stage because they lack awareness or they may have tried
to change a number of times and become demoralized about their ability to
change.
 Both groups tend to avoid reading, talking or thinking about their problems. They
may characterized as resistant or unmotivated or as not ready for any
intervention.
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24. Self-change Model
 Contemplation:
 The client starts to recognize that they have a problem and is the stage in which
people are intending to change in the near future.
 They are more aware of the pros of changing but are also acutely aware of the
cons.
 This balance between the costs and benefits of changing can produce profound
ambivalence that can keep people stuck in this stage for long periods of time.
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25. Self-change Model
 Preparation:
 The stage in which people are intending to take action soon.
 They may have made that initial phone call to therapist and have turned up for
the first session.
 These individuals have a plan of action, such as consulting a counsellor, talking to
their doctor, buying a self-help book or relying on a self-change approach.
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26. Self-change Model
 Action:
 Clients have committed to a course of action and have taken steps to change
their behavior, modifying thoughts and feelings. They may now have a sense of
timescale, how long the change process may last.
 Maintenance:
 Clients are working at keeping the changes going; it is important not to allow
relapse to take place.
 Relapse:
 Possible and may be of different degrees of severity. Ideally people can move
back into the action phase as soon as possible.
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27. Strengths
 Emphasis on empowerment of client.
 Approach displays flexibility and excellent research in support of its effectiveness.
 Positive nature to working with variety of clients in various settings including
school children.
 Focus on change and small changes in behavior.
 Can be combined with other approaches such as extentialism.
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28. Limitations
 No attention to clients history.
 Has lack of focus on insight.
 Approach uses teams at least by some practitioners to make the cost of treatment
high.
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29. Role Play ……………..
 MR A
 Smoker
 Failure in exam of ACCA
 Session 5th
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30. References
 Berg, I. K. (1991) Family Preservation: A Brief Therapy Workbook. London: BT Press.
 Berg, I.K. & Miller, S. (1992) Working with the Problem Drinker: A Solution Focused
Approach. New York: Norton.
 de Shazer, S. (1985) Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy. New York: Norton.
 George, E., Iveson, C. & Ratner, H. (1999) Problem to Solution: Brief Therapy with
Individuals and Families. London: BT Press.
 Hawkes, D., Marsh, T. & Wilgosh, R. (1998) Solution-Focused Therapy: A Handbook for
Health Care Professionals. Oxford: Butterworth–Heinemann.
 Hoyt, M. F. (1984) Single session solutions. In Constructive Therapies (ed. M. F. Hoyt).
New York: Guilford.
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31. Thanks for Patience………. 
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