Solution-focused brief therapy focuses on solutions rather than problems and uses the client's strengths to set realistic goals and safety plans. It emphasizes collaborating with the client to uncover their positive intentions and formulate specific, constructive goals defined by what they want, rather than avoiding. Scaling questions are used to jointly assess risk and determine the necessary safety actions between the client and therapist.

2. A person is held accountable for solutions
rather than for issues in social work practice
using the treatment style known as solution-
focused brief therapy. Solution-focused brief
therapy intentionally uses the language and
imagery of "solution and strengths" in
treatment and holds that by putting more
emphasis on the process of finding solutions
than on the problems themselves, meaningful
and long-lasting change can take place
quickly.
In solution-focused brief therapy, we would
concentrate on setting realistic goals,
promoting strengths-based communication
among family members, and building safety
plans utilizing scaling questions to measure
risk.

3. •

4. The emphasis on client
strengths, talents, and
resources is essential to
the SFT method of
practice. The idea is to
use these assets—many
of which are overlooked,
underutilized, or
forgotten—in the
interest of progress.
While listening to their
patients, solution-
focused therapists also
highlight their clients'
qualities and tenacity in
the face of their issues.
While the client might be
feeling hopeless, the
therapist continues to
have faith in the patient
and in the ability of a
collaborative therapeutic
partnership to make
progress. This strategy
employs a kind,
encouraging, non-
obtrusive, yet persistent
listening attitude.

5. The aim of therapy is to uncover with the client
the positive goal and intentions which underpin
their suicidal actions and to explore with them
how they can achieve these by other means.
The therapist makes an effort to assist the client
in formulating specific, constructive goals that
are expressed in terms of what the client wants
rather than what he or she does not. For
instance, it is not enough for the therapist to
know that the client wants to stop being
depressed; instead, the therapist wants to know
what the client will be doing or feeling in his or
her life when the depression has passed. The
better the goal, the more specific and
comprehensive

6. •
•
•

7. •
•

8. •
•

9. By employing scaling questions to jointly
determine with clients the amount of danger
and the necessary safety action, solution-
focused therapy can complete more
conventional kinds of risk assessment.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you
that you will be able to get through the
weekend without attempting to harm yourself,
where 1 means you feel you have no chance
and 10 means you are totally confident? What
makes you that confident? What needs to
happen to make you more confident . . . to
move one point forward on the scale?

10. •
•