Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
If you are interested in counseling using SFBT, call OakHeart at 630-570-0050 or 779-201-6440 or email us at [email protected]. We have counselors, psychologists, and social workers available to help you at one of our locations in North Aurora, IL, Sycamore, IL, and/or via Telehealth Online Therapy Services serving Kane County, DeKalb County, Dupage County, and beyond.
What is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy?Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, usually shortened to SFBT, is a short-term, goal-directed approach to therapy that concentrates on where you want to go rather than on a long analysis of how you got here. The premise is that understanding a problem in depth is not always necessary in order to move past it, and that people already carry strengths, resources, and moments of success that can be built on. The work of SFBT is to find those and put them to use.
Build Solutions, Not Just Analyze ProblemsMost therapy traditions spend considerable time on the problem: its history, its causes, the shape it takes. SFBT takes a different angle. It assumes that no problem happens all the time, that there are always exceptions, moments when things go a little better, and that those exceptions hold useful information about what works for you specifically.
So instead of asking why a problem keeps happening, SFBT tends to ask what is different about the times it does not, what you want your life to look like instead, and what the smallest first step in that direction might be. The view is that small changes tend to build on themselves, and that you, not the therapist, are the expert on your own life and your own goals. The therapist's job is to ask good questions and help you notice what you might have walked past. What SFBT Looks Like in PracticeSFBT is brief by design, often a relatively small number of sessions, though the length always depends on the person and the goal. The work is organized around a set of distinctive questions.
The best known is the miracle question, which invites you to imagine that the problem were somehow resolved overnight and to describe, in concrete detail, how you would notice and what would be different the next day. The point is to make a preferred future specific enough to start moving toward. Scaling questions ask you to rate where you are on a scale from zero to ten and then to consider what one step up would look like, which turns a vague sense of progress into something workable. Exception questions look for the times the problem was absent or milder and ask what was different then. Coping questions, used when things feel bleak, ask how you have managed to keep going at all, which often surfaces strengths a person had not given themselves credit for. Throughout, the therapist offers genuine affirmation of what is already working, and the two of you shape small, concrete, doable goals. |
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What Does the Research Say?
SFBT has a meaningful and growing body of research, including controlled studies and reviews, supporting its use across a wide range of concerns. The evidence generally shows that it helps, often achieving results comparable to other approaches in a shorter span of time. It is fair to say the approach is well supported and that its research base, while substantial, continues to develop. Its brevity and practicality are part of what have made it widely used.
What SFBT Can Help With
SFBT is well suited to situations where a person has a reasonably clear goal and wants to make forward progress without an extended exploration of the past. It is used across many concerns, including stress, mild to moderate depression and anxiety, relationship and family difficulties, adjustment to change, and specific behavioral goals, and it works well for people who are oriented toward action and the future.
It is worth being honest about fit. SFBT is not designed to be a deep processing therapy for complex trauma or entrenched, long-standing conditions on its own, though its techniques are often woven helpfully into longer-term work. Part of what you and your clinician will sort out early is whether a brief, solution-focused approach matches what you are dealing with, or whether it is better used alongside another method.
It is worth being honest about fit. SFBT is not designed to be a deep processing therapy for complex trauma or entrenched, long-standing conditions on its own, though its techniques are often woven helpfully into longer-term work. Part of what you and your clinician will sort out early is whether a brief, solution-focused approach matches what you are dealing with, or whether it is better used alongside another method.
How SFBT Fits With Other Treatments
Because SFBT is focused and flexible, it works both as a standalone approach for a specific goal and as something to fold into other treatment. Many clinicians draw on solution-focused questions within a broader course of therapy to build momentum, clarify goals, and keep sight of what is already working, even when the main approach is something like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The solution-focused stance, curious, strengths-oriented, and forward-looking, tends to complement other methods rather than compete with them.
SFBT at OakHeart
Our clinicians use Solution-Focused Brief Therapy both as a focused approach in its own right and as a set of tools integrated into broader work, depending on your goals and what fits your situation. During your assessment, your clinician will talk with you about whether a brief, solution-focused approach makes sense on its own or as part of a larger plan. SFBT is delivered in individual therapy, and you will meet one-to-one with your clinician for each session.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many sessions does SFBT take? It is meant to be brief, often a relatively small number of sessions, but there is no fixed number. Some people get what they need quickly, and others continue longer or fold solution-focused work into a broader course of therapy. Your clinician will revisit this with you as you go.
Is SFBT right for serious or long-standing problems?
On its own, SFBT is best suited to clearer, more focused goals rather than deep processing of complex trauma or entrenched conditions. That said, its techniques are often valuable as part of longer-term treatment for more complicated situations. The assessment is where you and your clinician decide what fits.
Is SFBT only about positive thinking?
No. SFBT is not about ignoring difficulties or forcing optimism. It is a practical method for identifying what already works for you and building on it, grounded in your real experience rather than in cheerful reframing.
Is SFBT available via telehealth?
Yes. SFBT translates well to telehealth, and OakHeart offers it throughout Illinois in addition to in-person sessions at our North Aurora and Sycamore locations.
Our team of licensed psychologists, counselors, and social workers in North Aurora and Sycamore, Illinois provides evidence-based care, including Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, to clients throughout Kane County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, and the surrounding Chicago suburbs, with in-person and telehealth options throughout Illinois.
Is SFBT right for serious or long-standing problems?
On its own, SFBT is best suited to clearer, more focused goals rather than deep processing of complex trauma or entrenched conditions. That said, its techniques are often valuable as part of longer-term treatment for more complicated situations. The assessment is where you and your clinician decide what fits.
Is SFBT only about positive thinking?
No. SFBT is not about ignoring difficulties or forcing optimism. It is a practical method for identifying what already works for you and building on it, grounded in your real experience rather than in cheerful reframing.
Is SFBT available via telehealth?
Yes. SFBT translates well to telehealth, and OakHeart offers it throughout Illinois in addition to in-person sessions at our North Aurora and Sycamore locations.
Our team of licensed psychologists, counselors, and social workers in North Aurora and Sycamore, Illinois provides evidence-based care, including Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, to clients throughout Kane County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, and the surrounding Chicago suburbs, with in-person and telehealth options throughout Illinois.
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References
de Shazer, S., Dolan, Y., Korman, H., Trepper, T., McCollum, E., & Berg, I. K. (2007). More than miracles: The state of the art of solution-focused brief therapy. Routledge.
Franklin, C., Trepper, T. S., McCollum, E. E., & Gingerich, W. J. (Eds.). (2012). Solution-focused brief therapy: A handbook of evidence-based practice. Oxford University Press.
Gingerich, W. J., & Peterson, L. T. (2013). Effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy: A systematic qualitative review of controlled outcome studies. Research on Social Work Practice, 23(3), 266-283.
Kim, J. S., Jordan, S. S., Franklin, C., & Froerer, A. (2019). Is solution-focused brief therapy evidence-based? An update 10 years later. Families in Society, 100(2), 127-138.
Franklin, C., Trepper, T. S., McCollum, E. E., & Gingerich, W. J. (Eds.). (2012). Solution-focused brief therapy: A handbook of evidence-based practice. Oxford University Press.
Gingerich, W. J., & Peterson, L. T. (2013). Effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy: A systematic qualitative review of controlled outcome studies. Research on Social Work Practice, 23(3), 266-283.
Kim, J. S., Jordan, S. S., Franklin, C., & Froerer, A. (2019). Is solution-focused brief therapy evidence-based? An update 10 years later. Families in Society, 100(2), 127-138.
